Cruising
by TanteLiz
Summary: Azula has accomplished her mission and is in no hurry to get home. Adventures for all as they cruise the western coast south to the Fire Nation! MATURE CONTENT Romp with Zutara, SokkaSuki, SokkaTyLee, Iroh & my OC from IGTGWY, etc.
1. Captivated

Author's Note - This a romp, and I have no idea yet where it's going! This will be my experiment in write & post, as suggested by DoDoGrrl's review - so pardon me if I go back and do a little fix-up now and then. - Tante Liz

Addendum - Updating all of these earlier chapters after a very late night of poetry surfing...

Ch 1

And who by fire, who by water,  
who in the sunshine, who in the night time,  
who by high ordeal, who by common trial,  
who in your merry merry month of may,  
who by very slow decay,  
and who shall I say is calling?  
And who in her lonely slip, who by barbiturate,  
who in these realms of love, who by something blunt,  
and who by avalanche, who by powder,  
who for his greed, who for his hunger,  
and who shall I say is calling?

And who by brave assent, who by accident,  
who in solitude, who in this mirror,  
who by his lady's command, who by his own hand,  
who in mortal chains, who in power,  
and who shall I say is calling?

Leonard Cohen

Azula was in a good mood. It had been a long, hard day, but a satisfying one – her foolish uncle and even more foolish older brother recaptured, the Avatar and his little friends in chains, and the sounds of her ship finally making way out of the harbor and back to the open ocean.

She laughed as she thought of ways to amuse herself on the voyage back – and the laugh turned into a squeal of delight as she decided how to solve the problem of having one too few holding cells. _I'll make Zu-zu and the Water-bitch share a cell – maybe they'll kill each other before we get home!_

Azula and her ladies feasted that night, and wine flowed freely among the crew. Below decks, the mood was less than festive.

The companions of the Avatar were each separately chained and alone, their only contact the unspeaking, masked guards who brought and removed their food trays and chamber pots each shift. Iroh, Toph, Sokka and Aang spent most of the first few days just sleeping on straw mats and learning that struggling just increased the friction and pain in their ankles and wrists.

The exceptions were Zuko and Katara. Chained, too, but instead of having barely enough room to change positions, their bonds were long enough that they could each walk the length of the long, narrow, windowless cell they shared.

Azula had been disappointed at first to hear from the guards that her brother and the Water Tribe woman weren't at each other's throats – in fact, that they barely spoke to or even looked at each other – and she soon lost interest. At every port of call there was some new amusement for her to experience, and she was in no hurry now that she had secured her prizes.

At opposite ends of the cell, Zuko and Katara sat unmoving. The first day, they barely spoke. The second day they had verbally baited each other, recriminations flying, until that too turned tiresome. By the third day the guards had stopped peeking through the door slot with any regularity and they rarely even heard the sound of footsteps outside the door.

Zuko seemed to be oblivious to her presence, sitting cross-legged on the mat with his chains flowing around him, the two tiny orbs of flame balanced on his fingertips growing and shrinking with every breath.

Katara had never been the meditative type. Something about his outward calm irritated her. By sunset on the evening of the third day, Katara's irritation grew, and she began to feel more petty and childish than tragic.

The walls of the cell were damp and cold – they were below the water line. She bent the moisture into tiny ice crystals and tossed them in an arc, showering Zuko's bare chest and back. He didn't move, but the flames shot up larger for a moment before he once again had himself under control.

_Breathe in, breathe out_, he thought. _Just pretend she's not there._


	2. Toph and Toots

Ch 2

Weeping sky,  
We bring the sun  
To make you glad  
And fill you with the day

Quiet tree,  
We have the wind  
To make you dance  
And fill you with our play

And you shall be glad,  
And you shall dance!  
And you shall come  
To hear our song  
And learn its tune  
Before it fades away...

- Neil Diamond, _Childsong_

Toph couldn't really see in here, the way she could on solid ground, but metal was a good conductor of vibrations. The longer her captivity continued, the more attuned to this new kind of vibration she became. She knew the light, quick step of her usual guard, for instance, from the shuffling gate of the old galley man who brought her food. "Her" guard had even stuffed rags around her wrists after a day or two to stop the shackles from chafing. She could hear him coming, now.

"Hi, Toots," she called out, as the key turned in the lock.

He didn't answer. He never answered, but she could feel his hesitation, and hear his breathing.

"So, how was your day?" she paused. "Really? That's great, Honey! I had a really exciting day, too!"

Still nothing. She tried again.

"I was busy in the kitchen teaching your Grandmother how to chew cheese, when I heard this explosion, and I looked out the window and saw your Dad lighting the pigcow's farts on fire out in the courtyard – it was amazing! It lit up the sky! I said to myself, 'Self', I said, '_That_ is one sight you have _got_ to remember to tell Tootsie-Pooh about when he gets home from work!"

She heard a muffled snort, followed by another, then a choked, coughing laugh. Her guard knelt down and did his usual quick check of her bonds, trying desperately not to laugh, snorting so hard Toph thought he would choke.

Toph leaned in close to his ear and growled. "G_rrrrrrrr!_ Here, little fire kitty, kitty, kitty! Mummy has some lovely cream for you," she finished in a singsong voice.

"Cut it out," came a faint whisper. "I'm not allowed to talk to you."

"Only if you tell me your name," whispered Toph, growling again. "Here, pussy, wussy, wooooooohhh!" she howled.

"Its Pao, now _shut up_!" he hissed.

He re-adjusted the rags, stood up and left the room without another word, clanging the heavy iron door behind him. Toph heard Pao practically running down the hall and smiled.

_This is kinda fun,_ she thought.


	3. Sokka Cleans Up Nice

Ch 3

O to bathe in the swimming-bath, or in a good place along shore,  
To splash the water! to walk ankle-deep, or race naked along the shore.

Walt Whitman

Sokka woke from a restless sleep at the sound of a female voice outside his cell door. He couldn't make out the words, and he didn't hear it for long – he drifted back into his dreams under the ever-present red light of the lantern above his door. There was no point of reference for time in the holding cell, no day or night, but he didn't think it was very long afterwards that the keys clanged against the metal door and the lock turned.

Now fully awake, Sokka crouched in the semi-darkness. He shielded his eyes with one hand, balancing with the other. A guard stepped in, then another, then a third in the cramped cell. Wordlessly two of the guards pinned him back against his sleeping mat while the third unlocked his shackles.

Sokka knew better than to struggle. He was shaky and weak - any chance he had of escape would be wasted below deck – he would wait until he was in the open.

He walked stiffly between the two guards, behind the third, and a fourth joined them to pick up the rear. Sokka almost laughed – _Like I could handle these guys in this condition,_ he thought. Then a thought struck him, and a chill ran up his spine. _They're going to kill me_, he thought_. I'm not a bender, I'm not important enough to keep, they're just going to cut my throat and dump me overboard…_ he breathed deeply and blew it out, fighting the rising panic. _Please don't let me beg… Let me get one good punch in, just one…_ he silently pleaded.

To Sokka's surprise, the guards didn't lead him up the stairs to the deck. Instead, they continued down the corridor, turning several times through the ship's labyrinth of passageways, until they came to what looked like a shower room. Hands on his back shoved him inside.

"Strip down, ponytail boy," grunted one guard. Sokka felt a moment of panic (he'd heard all sorts of tails about sailors), but the guards filed back out of the room. Sokka looked around him and saw a pile of worn linen towels and a basket of soap on a bench against the wall.

The last guard tossed him a cloth bundle, which Sokka barely caught before it dropped to the damp floor. Dark trousers, loosely pleated and gathered to a button at the waist, and a clean but worn sleeveless linen tunic.

"Uhhh, okay…" said Sokka, and proceeded to shed the stiff and grimy underclothes that he had been locked up in. _A shower would feel really good,_ he thought. _Maybe these fire nation guys aren't so bad after all…_


	4. Humiliated

Ch 4

Without warning  
as a whirlwind  
swoops on an oak  
Love shakes my heart

- Sappho 630-570 BCE

Katara was irritable, weakened, and spoiling for a fight when the guards came in, but they moved fast, half towards her end of the cell, pushing her back against the wall with their full length shields, and the other half to Prince Zuko's. Ty Lee followed closely behind, and with a few quick jabs at Zuko's shoulders, immobilized his arms. She did the same to Katara.

Wrinkling her already up-turned nose, she sniffed daintily as the guards unlocked the shackles. "Phew! Wish I'd thought of this earlier, I don't know how you two could stand yourselves," she said, flouncing out the door

Zuko dropped to one knee, lashing a flaming kick out at her as she rounded the corridor, and she quickly leaped back. A few more jabs, and Zuko couldn't regain his feet. _Bitch,_ he thought. _And I always thought you were the nice one, Ty Lee…_

The guards half dragged Zuko and frog-marched Katara down the corridor behind him. Through a doorway into a cold, damp, and dimly lit room they were shoved, the guards working at top speed before their bending abilities returned.

Efficiently stripped, then doused with several buckets of cold water in rapid succession, they were then briskly (and none too gently) toweled off.

"Don't leave any water on either of them, anywhere!" she heard a familiar female voice in the corridor say.

Katara shrieked and batted ineffectively at the guards. Her body felt numb and tingling, her arms wouldn't move, and her scalp hurt from the rough tugging to undo and dry her braid.

Wrapped in ragged toweling, they were quickly dragged back to their cell and chained to either end of the room. A small bundle of cloth was tossed to each before the door clanged shut and the footsteps retreated.

They dressed silently, not looking at each other. Katara wept quietly. When she stopped, Zuko glanced over and saw her curled up on her mat, unmoving, her unbound hair draping her thin shoulders. He found himself feeling… odd. Somehow guilty, embarrassed for her, and for himself, and sad. It was almost strange, to feel something _other_ than anger.

"I… I didn't look," he said softly.

There was a pause.

"Thank you," she replied.

Another pause.

"You're welcome."


	5. Suki and the Gang

Ch 5

When the Himalayan peasant meets the he-bear in his pride,

He shouts to scare the monster, who will often turn aside.

But the she-bear thus accosted rends the peasant tooth and nail.

For the female of the species is more deadly than the male...

- Rudyard Kipling

"The _Fire Maiden_ will be making way from Ten Yu harbor with the dawn tide," said Suki, drawing a quick map in the dirt. "And Azula has accepted a dinner invitation from the Governor of Guo Bin, so she'll have to round the Tai Hei promontory here, and then double back east again, here."

"So, if we leave tonight," said Ya Li, pointing to the map, "and cut across, we'll be at least twelve, maybe sixteen hours ahead of them."

"More, if we have any luck. Now, according to the messenger, our contacts in Guo Bin have it set up to be the 'procurers' for the ship-board personnel – "

"Procurers?" asked Ting with a snort, "Don't you mean pimps?"

"Whatever, girls. All I know is they'll have a way to get us on board the _Fire Maiden_ just as soon as her Royal Witchiness has set off for her evening's debauchery. We're posing as Earth Kingdom prisoners, sisters from a captured abbey – "

"Oh, that's just sick," muttered Wen Ji

"Why an abbey?" asked Yu Kai.

"So we have an excuse to be in at least the main robe of our uniform. It'll look like a habit, without the armor," said Suki, sitting back on her heels.

"So, no armor," said Ting.

"And no make-up either, huh?" asked Hui La

"Nope," said Suki. "Fans only, ladies, and that's only if we can find a good way to hide them."

"I am _not_ hiding my fan in my – " snorted Ting.

"You're not going to have to, Ting, so just chill," said Suki with exasperation.

"What about the soldiers?" asked Yu Kai.

"Our contacts are sending a couple of barrels of plum wine aboard at least an hour before we get there, so hopefully they'll be well on their way to getting totally shit-faced before we even – "

"Can we drug the wine?" asked Hui La.

"Possibly, but these guys aren't that stupid, La-La, they're elite Fire Nation troops. They'll suspect something if they start feeling, you know, _odd_ after a couple of glasses…"

"Fine," said Ya Li, "So, we knock the crap out of the boys in the barracks, and then what?"

"Well, then," said Suki with a grin, "Then, we steal the _Fire Maiden_."

"Sweet!" said Ting. "Do you know how to drive one of those things?"

"No, but I'd be willing to bet a certain exiled Prince does," answered Suki.

"Sweet!" said Ting.


	6. This Stinks

Ch 6

When you wake up in the morning with your hair all messed and scruffy  
And your teeth are full of grunge and your nose is feeling stuffy  
You stumble to the bathroom with the sniffles and you wish you  
Could stop that nasal drip so you grab another tissue  
You can get electric toothbrush and a hair dryer that blows  
But one thing you can't get is a good electric nose!

- Bill Pere

Aang had a cold. A miserable, sniffly, dribbly, snot-filled cold. He'd felt it coming on even before the most recent battle with Azula, and it was just getting worse.

"This stinks," he mumbled, after a particularly vicious sneeze. He couldn't even wipe his nose, other than on his shoulder like a little kid. The most he could do was to blow huge snot bubbles that burst, greenly, against the locked door.

He coughed, and had trouble stopping. His chest ached, and his tongue felt thick and furry. His ears hurt, and sounds were muffled and dull. He felt horrible.

"This really, _really_ stinks," he mumbled again, shivering.

Aang heard footsteps - lots of footsteps, then voices in the corridor, and then odd, cackling laughter. The key turned in the lock; he readied himself to blow the guard down hard, as he had managed to do once, the first day of his captivity. All he managed this time was a coughing fit, banging his own head against the mat.

Two identical, black-robed crones peered at him from around the guard's shield.

"Harrumph," harrumphed the first one.

"Harrumph," harrumphed her twin.

"Get my bag," said the first.

"And a basin," said the other,

"And a brazier."

"And blankets."

"And a tub of goose grease."

"And a bottle of plum brandy."

"And two stools."

"And be quick about it!"

"Yes Ma'am - yes ma'am - yes ma'am!" came the voices of guards in the hall, followed by the swift trot of running feet. Not one of them dared be anything less than immediate in their obedience of the ancient ladies Li and Lo.

In a matter of moments, Aang was wrapped in a warm blanket, still chained on the floor, but more comfortably, in between the two old women. One of them wiped his goobery face and shoulders clean with a damp rag.

"Blow," she ordered, holding the rag to his nose. Aang did, and felt a lot better.

The other poured a measure of brandy into a small basin and lit the brazier with a snap of her fingers. From a leather bag she drew three small vials, and measured a few drops of each into the brandy.

Nose-wiper peeled back the blanket, took a scoop of grease from the tub, and began to rub it on Aang's chest, neck and shoulders. Brandy-boiler took a handful of strong smelling herbs from the bag and patted them into the grease, then blew on a thick towel until it steamed.

She slapped the hot towel down on Aang's chest, and wrapped the blanket back around him as the stench of camphor and eucalyptus filled the cell.

"EEEYOWWW! That's hot!" Aang howled.

Nose-wiper cackled. Brandy-boiler harrumphed and stirred her pot.

Aang squirmed, hating the feel of the hot, steamy, greasy goop on his chest, but the tightness eased with every breath he took of the pungent vapor.

"Breathe deep, boy," growled Brandy-boiler, tasting her mixture with one gnarled old finger as it began to simmer. She doused the flame with a wave of her fingertips.

Nose-wiper filled a small cup from the steaming pot. She lifted Aang's head and held the cup to his lips. "Drink it," she ordered.

Aang sniffed ineffectually. "What is it?" he asked.

"Never you mind, child, just do as you're told," she snapped.

Aang sipped the steaming liquid. "Pleeheww!" he nearly spat it out. He'd never tasted alcohol of any kind, and the herb extracts were bitter.

"Listen to me, boy!" hissed Brandy-boiler, her face within inches of his. "You're of no use to _anyone_ if you die of pneumonia, and you are _not_ too old for me to turn over my knee, Avatar or no Avatar, so take your medicine and no back-talk, _do you hear me_?"

"Yes, ma'am," Aang gulped. Chastened, and not really knowing what else to do, he drank.

The brandy burned in his raw throat, but after the first few sips it began to feel better. He gulped down the rest of the cup, and the old woman laid his head down, not un-gently, on the folded edge of the blanket.

The room was spinning. He was warm for the first time in three days, and he could breathe, and snot was not dripping down his face.

"Thank you," he murmured, sleepily, his eyes closing.

"Harrumph," said one.

"He looks nothing at all like Rokku," said the other.


	7. Memory, All Alone In The Moonlight

(**Author's Note** – If you have not yet read my previous story, **_I Greet The God Within You_**, you will not have any point of reference for the character of Hou Tu or Iroh's pleasant memories of their evening together (so, my little chickies, go ye and read it! Oh, and review it please, your Tante loves reviews.).

And if you don't have time to stop and read it, Hou Tu is the mortal form of the Spirit of the Earth, and she's got a long standing pash for our boy Iroh. This is a scene originally written for their story, and not used. -

**WARNING MATURE CONTENT WARNING MATURE CONTENT WARNING** – Iroh's an open-minded kind of guy who enjoys all sorts of good games, so DON'T read any more of this chapter if you're persnickety about what parts go where or who ties up whom…)

Ch 7

"No spring, nor summer beauty hath such grace,

As I have seen in one autumnal face..."

-John Donne

(And if you know who John Donne is, thank your English teacher!)

Iroh found ample time to let his mind wander, as he lay chained in the darkened cell. With a drowsy sigh and a secret smile he called to mind a time, not long ago, when he lay in a similar position at the mercy of his lover, Hou Tu, the Lady of the Earth. Willing his body to relax on the hard straw mat, he lost himself in the pleasant memory…

_Cold, wet and laughing, they left the lakeshore for the pavilion. Iroh built up the fire with a flick of his wrist, and Hou Tu tossed him a linen towel from a rush basket, using another one on her own hair while the tea brewed. The wet strands clung to her back and breasts, making marble patterns against the creamy pink and gold of her skin. Iroh enjoyed just looking at her efficient movements; even the way she poured the tea seemed to fascinate him. _

_After a second steaming cup, Hou Tu rose from where she knelt, naked, on her cushion. She gave Iroh an appraising look and walked over to the sleeping platform. "Would you care to play a game, General?"_

_Iroh rose and followed her. "I'm rather fond of games, Tu Tu. But I must warn you, I usually win," he chuckled, settling back against the cushions. "Now, what kind of game did you have in mind?"_

_From a low shelf she took out a small bag, and drew from it several shimmering lengths of oddly shaped rope – woven sapphire blue links, like silken chains. _

_She stood at the foot of the platform. "Do you trust me?" she asked in her smoky voice._

_Iroh could feel his breath quicken. He swallowed hard and licked his lips. _Now, this is the sort of game I haven't played in a long, long time_, he thought. He nodded. _

"_Oh, goody," sighed the Lady of the Earth, smiling angelically. She snapped the ropes sharply in the air with a crack like a whip, and they flew from her hands. Like glowing, lapis snakes they wrapped themselves around Iroh's wrists and ankles. Before he could react, they pulled his arms and legs out taught until he was spread-eagled against the silk coverlet. _

_Iroh pulled experimentally. The silk chains held firm, but he thought there was enough give to twist out of them if he needed to. With a flick of her wrist, Hou Tu pulled the chains just a little bit tighter. He struggled harder this time, pulling with force, twisting his powerful body, but he was completely immobilized. _

_Iroh felt more than a twinge of unease. He had experience with amusements of this kind in his distant and decadent past, but then he had always known himself to be the one in charge of the dainty toy bonds and the little feather whips and the prancing courtesans playing at dominance. This woman was no costumed courtesan, and this time, he was definitely _not_ in control. _

_It was almost painful. Almost. It was also very… freeing. Iroh had no experience with surrender. Even at Ba-Sing-Se, he had simply packed up his men and gone home. He wondered, to feel his body reacting so powerfully to this feeling of helplessness, this vulnerability. _

I have always been attracted to strong women_, he thought. _Lucky me to find myself at the mercy of the strongest of them all_…_

_His eyes met hers as his breathing deepened, quickened. With an evil grin she once again reached into the silk bag, bringing out a long, leather whip. She cracked it first over her head, then closer and closer to his body. When the tip flicked over his inner thigh, with a touch like ice, he shuddered and gasped. _

_Hou Tu cracked and swirled the whip as she swayed and danced in the firelight, sometimes lightly running the flail down his body, sometimes nipping his skin with its stinging tip. She stepped up onto the platform, standing between his spread legs, looking down at him. In the flickering shadows, with the firelight behind her, she seemed to grow taller. He could not see her face, but he heard her murmur as she looked down at him, "Beautiful, so beautiful…"_

_Iroh looked away, oddly distressed by her words. He knew he had never been considered a handsome man; he was short, balding, his features more comedic than dramatic, and while powerfully muscled (_and quite well endowed_, he thought smugly) he had always accepted that most women were only interested in his title, his power, or the money at his command. Even his good wife, now passed, had never looked at him with more than gentle, amused tolerance. _With an arranged marriage, I could expect nothing more_, he thought_, but she gave me my son, and we were… well, we were at least friends…

As Hou Tu slowly knelt before him, and her face came into view, Iroh saw in her ageless and forgiving eyes a warmth that no woman had ever shown him before. His arms ached to hold her, and unexpected tears blurred his vision until her face swam in the flickering lamplight.

_"I love looking at you, Iroh," she whispered. "I always have… Is that so hard to believe? And the way you look right now… Such power, so constrained, _is_ beauty to me."_

_Hou Tu leaned closer, until her breasts brushed and swayed against his rod. Lightly, she rubbed against him as he twitched, then gently she kissed the living silk. Licking her lips and meeting his eyes, she slid her hands under his hips. Slowly she leaned in again, and breathed his name before warmly enveloping his - _

**Wham!** Thud, clang, march, march, march, march, CLANG! Iroh's reverie was cruelly interrupted. He opened his eyes reluctantly as the guard brought his dinner, entering the cell, as always, in silence and with a full-length fire shield in front of him.

He had stiffened, lying there so long on the hard mat, and his back and shoulders ached. He looked over at the bowl, sniffed, and thought with longing of Hou Tu's smoked oysters, the tea duck, the simmered lotus root in delicate broth…

_Some things just aren't worth waking up for_, he thought glumly.

(Author's Note - Fantasius interruptus! Tee hee hee, snicker, snicker, sigh... I love you, Iroh!)


	8. Sokkait To Me, Baby!

Ch 8

No, no; for my virginity,

When I lose that,' says Rose, 'I'll die.'

'Behind the elms, last night,' cried Dick,

'Rose, were you not extremely sick?'

- Matthew Prior 1664-1721

Instead of being escorted back to his cell, Sokka was lead by the silent guards to a long narrow stairway. Prodded, he began to climb, the guards single-file before and behind him. The air grew fresher as they climbed, and he could hear women's voices. They stopped in front of a door, and knocked once. The door opened.

"Whoop! He's here," came a shriek.

The guard stepped back and pushed Sokka into the room. The door closed behind him with a resounding clang.

Sokka found himself in a den of cushions and candlelight, with one high, broad window revealing the barest crescent of a moon. _Huh. I guess it's nighttime,_ thought Sokka dully.

The smell of incense and herb smoke tickled his throat. He looked around, and in the flickering shadows saw the black robed figure of Mai lounging against a pile of silk pillows, the mouthpiece of an enameled water pipe dangling from her fingertips.

A giggle, and Sokka turned sharply, dropping into a defensive stance. Ty Lee was on him like white on rice, wrapping her legs around his waist and toppling him to the thick, patterned rug.

"Cute! See, he really _is_ cute," she squealed, pulling open the tunic and running tickling fingers down his ribs.

Mai turned her head, dragging leisurely on the pipe and blowing out smoke rings. "Whatever," she drawled.

"Get off me!" yelled Sokka, trying to push Ty Lee's hands away from his chest. She deftly twisted his wrists, immobilizing his hands.

"Hi," she piped.

"Uh, hi, I guess, " said Sokka uneasily. _She is really pretty,_ he thought. _And really dangerous. And really, really pretty…_

Ty Lee bounced on his belly, making him twitch and bobbling her pert little breasts. "I suppose you're wondering why I called you here tonight," she intoned in mock pomposity.

"Uh, yeah, I guess you could say I'm wondering that, sure," answered Sokka, his eyes on the bobbling.

"Because, silly," she said, bouncing again, "Azula is busy, Mai is wasted, and I'm bored."

"You're bored, so I'm here to… what, entertain you? Sorry," said Sokka in as disinterested a tone as he could muster, considering all the bobbling and bouncing going on. "I don't sing, I don't dance, and I don't even know any good jokes. Aw, too bad, I guess you'll just have to send me back to my cell."

"Oh my gosh, you're so funny!' she laughed. "Isn't he hilarious, Mai?"

"Right, bloody hilarious…" said Mai, taking another drag

Ty Lee tumbled off Sokka's mid-section, did a handstand, and then bent her head up and her legs back, so that the tips of her toes reached the back of her head. Sokka's eyes popped.

"I, uh, guess I'd better be going," he said, stumbling to his feet and backing toward the door.

Mai tossed a dagger into the wall just past his head.

"Or, maybe I could stay a while longer, sure," said Sokka brightly.

"Ooooh, let's play cards," said Ty Lee, flipping neatly to her feat and tossing pillows aside.

She cleared a couple of low, backed benches and a tea table of their pillow detritus, exposing a mess of playing cards, marker tiles, and chips. "Do you know how to play Dong Nan?" she asked.

"Sorry, don't know that one…"

"Qui Bot?" He shook his head. "Tai Guo? Omashu Rat Poker?"

"Okay, yeah, I've played that," said Sokka, with relief.

"Great," she said, flopping down on one bench. Sokka sat down on the other and began sorting out the tiles, chips and cards.

After winning a couple of quick hands, Sokka was more relaxed. He obviously knew a little more about poker playing than his opponent, and as neither of his two captors seemed inclined to kill him in the immediate future, he was feeling pretty good.

He took a sip of the plum wine Ty Lee had poured for him, and leaned back on the cushions.

Ty Lee cocked her head and bounced again. Sokka decided he really liked it when girls bounced. "Let's play a new game," she said.

"Oh, I dunno, this one's kinda fun," said Sokka, genially.

"I want to play **_Strip_** Omashu Rat Poker!" she squealed, cart wheeling around the room.

"Um, I'm kind of not wearing anything more than what you see right now, ladies, so I don't – "

"Come on, Mai, play with us," wheedled Ty Lee. "Sokka, I'll spot you two scarves and a shawl," she said, tossing him several lengths of filmy material. "But you have to lose everything else, first," she said.

"Sounds fair," said Sokka.

"Fine," said Mai, rising with sepulchral stateliness from her pipe. "But I get to deal," she warned.

The threesome settled in for another hand. Mai shuffled like a pro.

"The game is Double Rat, Ladies," she intoned.

"Hey," said Sokka.

"Shush," said Ty Lee.

"Shooting Stars are wild, Buckets count as Barrels, and all Rats are doubled," she said, flipping cards in all three directions at once.

"So you mean if I have a – " Sokka started to ask.

"Shut up and play," said Mai.

Another bottle and a half of plum wine later, Mai sat cross-legged in her high black boots and a shift, having only lost her outer robe. Ty Lee was down to some fascinatingly brief underclothes, and Sokka clutched a pillow on his lap, his last remaining scarf not being quite enough to cover things to his satisfaction.

"Hmm," said Mai, sweeping her tiles aside and laying down four Rats and a Shooting Star. "Looks like I win again."

Sokka held tight to his pillow as he pulled out the wispy strand of silk that was all he had left. "I'm busted," he said.

Ty Lee giggled, and pulled off her breast band. She tossed it in the air and it landed on Sokka's head. "Me, too," she warbled drunkenly. "Wheeeeee!"

"I'm going to bed," said Mai. 'Tell Azula I'll…." and then, with a snore, she tipped over onto the cushion.

"Mai? Mai-mai, pooky, are you sleeping?" said Ty Lee, tugging on her shift.

"No good. I think she's out," said Sokka.

"Well, you've got to help me get her to bed, then, Sokka," said Ty Lee.

"Me?" asked Sokka, "I'm _naked_!" This suddenly struck him as absolutely hilarious, and he giggled like a girl.

"Oh my gosh, are you really?" squealed Ty Lee, bouncing again. "Let's see!"

"No way," said Sokka clutching his pillow and edging backwards.

"Oh come on, come on, just a little peek?" cooed Ty Lee.

"Nuh, uh, " said Sokka, wondering where his clothes had gone.

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours," said Ty Lee, in a tinkling, suggestive voice.

"Um, you... uh, you uh uh uh…"said Sokka, brilliantly.

Ty Lee scampered across the table on her hands and knees. Her breasts were just as perky and cute unbound as bound, and Sokka felt his cheeks growing hotter and his cushion begin to shift.

She stood up, her taut, tanned belly just inches from Sokka's face, and began to slide her panties down over her hips.

Sokka stared at the triangle of delicate curls before his eyes. His cushion had definitely shifted. He had some vague, guilty thoughts of Yue and Suki, but it was getting very hard to think. There was a fruity scent to her, like a papaya. He licked his suddenly very dry lips.

Ty Lee edged closer, and slowly slid down Sokka's body until she was straddling his lap. _How is she doing that?_ Sokka briefly wondered.

She reached between their bodies and tossed the cushion aside. "Your turn," she said, looking down.

"Ooooohh," she cooed. "Look at it jump!' she said, as he twitched. "Oooooh, it's jumping again!" she squealed, bouncing.

Sokka couldn't stand it another minute. He _had_ to do something about the bobbling! "Hold still, you," he said, cupping both of Ty Lee's breasts in his hands.


	9. Dirt Girl

Ch 9

I have begun to long for you,  
I who have no greed;  
I have begun to ask for you,  
I who have no need.  
You say you've gone away from me,  
but I can feel you when you breathe.

- Leonard Cohen

Toph was used to hearing footsteps outside her cell, as guards came and went throughout the prison hold. She made a game of concentrating on the sound and vibration of each one and trying to decide how many there were, so when at least twenty guards marched by in one set, she was curious.

A few moments later, three guards, moving quickly, went back the other way. Soon, they returned at a run, and there was silence for a while. Toph settled back on the mat.

Then she heard a faint scream – and she knew that scream!

"Aang!" She hollered as loud as she could. "Aaaaaaaaang!"

Toph began to flail around, trying to get to her feet (not possible in the chains that were only long enough to allow her to turn side to side, but she managed an off-balanced crouch). She sat back down, and began banging her shackles against the floor. It hurt, but it was loud. "What are you doing to him? If you hurt him I swear I will crush each and every last one of you," she wailed. "I swear it!"

Light steps approached – Pao!

"Hey, Squeezy-Muffin," called Toph, "What's going on out there?"

The lock turned, the door opened – and closed again. That was odd, because the guards never closed the door with them on the inside. Someone knelt down beside her and leaned close…

"Toots?" asked Toph, quietly.

"Shhhhh!" came a voice, and a light touch on her arm. "It's me, Pao,"

"Yeah, yeah, Pookie-Puddle, I know, but you don't want anybody _knowing_ I know, do you?" she whispered.

"Make some more noise," he whispered, "I'm supposed to be here to quiet you down."

Toph obliged, slamming her shackles against the floor. "Don't come any closer, ya big Fire Nation Asshole!" she screeched.

"Quiet down, Dirt-Girl, or you'll get what's coming to you!" Pao boomed.

"Now," he whispered, "scream like I hit you, or something."

"Aaaiiiyyeeeeeee!" she screamed, banging the floor. "Nooooooh! Don't hurt me! No, no, please, aaaaaiiiyyyeeeeeeee! "

"Okay, okay," came his whisper at her ear, "that's enough, I'd get in trouble if I really, _really_ hurt you," he said.

"But not if you hurt me just a little," answered Toph, leaning back on the mat, propped up on her elbows.

Pao didn't answer, but he didn't leave, either.

"My friend was screaming. Are they hurting _him_ 'just a little'?" she asked.

Pao hesitated. "I don't think so. I know he has a bad cold, and I know the Ladies went in to see him,"

"The Ladies?"

"Lady Li and Lady Lo. They're… I don't know exactly who they are, but they're important and they travel with the Princess," he said.

Toph let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. _Aang was okay._

"You know, I'm going to make you pay for calling me 'Dirt-Girl'," she said, conversationally.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude, that's just what the other guys call the, um, the Earth Kingdom women they… bring on board…" he hesitated.

"I don't think I want to know about this," said Toph, sitting up and raising her hands to her ears. "No, wait, I do. I need to know what's happening. It helps me remember why I'm here," she said sadly. "So, they bring Earth Kingdom women on board, huh?"

Pao shifted position on the hard mat, and Toph could feel warmth radiating from him. She resisted the urge to scoot closer.

"Well, Princess Azula is stopping in almost every port we control – big parties, dinners, parades, you know, everybody wants to make a big deal about her bringing in the Avatar."

"Yeah, I'll bet."

"And, when we stop, the harbormaster usually brings women aboard, you know, Earth Kingdom prisoners, for… for the men who aren't at the parties…" his voice trailed off.

"Oooooh, yuck. That's just sick," spat Toph, her head in her hands.

"I'm sorry," said Pao, "I shouldn't have told you." He paused. "I want you to know – I'm not… I don't go in there, where those women are. When I joined up, the last thing my Mom told me before I left was never to do anything I wouldn't be proud to tell her about, and I promised."

They were silent a moment. "You know, when I saw that you guys were just kids, just kids like…" he couldn't finish.

Toph did something she really, really didn't think she should do. She reached over and took his hand, and squeezed it. He squeezed it back, and they sat, hand in hand, until once again she felt and heard the sound of marching feet.

"Go," hissed Toph.

Pao scrambled up and opened the door as quietly as he could. He stopped and looked back at her. "Cry, when they walk by, okay? Cry, so they'll think I hurt you and they'll let me keep taking care of you, okay?" he asked.

Toph nodded. The door shut, the key turning in the lock. She put her head in her hands and began to sob loudly. Trouble was, even after the footsteps had passed her by, for some reason the tears just kept coming.


	10. Barely Even Friends, Then Somebody Bends

Ch 10

Ever just the same  
Ever a surprise  
Ever as before  
Ever just as sure  
As the sun will rise  
Tale as old as time  
Tune as old as song  
Bittersweet and strange  
Finding you can change  
Learning you were wrong

- Howard Ashman

The ice was broken. Haltingly, hesitantly, Zuko and Katara began to… talk. Just talk. About their homes, their bending, the places they had seen traveling the world round… Just talk.

It was rocky at first. When the majority of an acquaintanceship is spent with each party trying to kill the other, friendship must be approached with caution.

"So, if you already know your Father isn't likely to put you back on the Good Boy List if you bring him the Avatar on a silver platter, why are you still following us?" asked Katara.

"I'm not," he answered.

"What do you mean, you're not? Obviously, you followed us to Ba Sing Se," she responded irritably.

Zuko snorted. "What do you mean, 'obviously'? It certainly wasn't my idea!"

Silence.

Dead end. Try again.

"Ba Sing Se blows, anyway," she said.

"Yeah? I thought you were in the upper ring? How badly could it 'blow' up there?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Fine."

Silence.

"You know," she began again, tentatively. "I want to let you know that I appreciate it that you haven't used fire-bending on me in here. You could have fried me anytime in last few days, and you haven't, and I respect that."

"Thanks," said Zuko.

Silence.

"And I appreciate it that you haven't used water-bending to… I don't know, capsize the ship or something."

"Why would I want to do that?" asked Katara. "How would I get out of here? And I don't even know where my friends are in here, or if they're even on the same damn boat!"

"Ship."

"Whatever."

Silence.

"Could you really do that?" asked Zuko.

"Do what?"

"Capsize the ship. From in here," he asked.

Katara thought for a moment. She stood, and stretched, stiff from sitting so long on the cold floor.

Zuko stared. _She stretches... nice_, he thought.

"I don't know," she said. "Let me see…" she dropped into a wide stance.

"Wait a minute, I don't really want you to…"

"I'm not going to capsize the boat," she said, still irritated.

"Ship!"

"WHAT-EVER!" She tossed her head, blowing hair out of her face. Widening her stance, she shifted back and forth, her arms moving in long, slow sweeps.

_That's also nice_, thought Zuko.

It rocked. It could have been coincidence, but Zuko definitely felt a sway, as if the ship had been hit by a good-sized swell, there at the dock. "Do that again," he challenged.

"I'm not even sure I did it," said Katara.

"What do you mean, you're not – " Zuko stood up and took a few steps toward her.

"Just shut up a minute! It's hard enough to move water that I can't see, this is water that I don't even know where it is!"

"Don't even know where it is? It's all around you! We're below the water line," he shouted.

"Well, how am I supposed to know that? You think I have any idea where anything is in a Fire Navy boat?"

"IT'S A SHIP! S – H – I – P SHIP! Are you just stupid?" he hollered, getting closer.

"Zuko! Hello! Water Tribe!" she squeaked, making a face up at him. "I know the difference between a ship and a boat!"

"What-EVER!"

Silence.

Snicker. Giggle. Giggle. Snicker. First a shared humiliation, then a shared laugh... Dangerous ground… he turned away.

"Okay, what if I said I was just 'yanking your chain'…" said Katara, twirling the chains at her wrist.

"Don't," he said, singeing the wall on his side of the cell irritably.

"Oh, come on, Your Royal Stuffed Shirtedness, that was funny!"

"Fine. It was funny. I laughed, okay? Are you happy?" He was pacing now. "And I am not a 'stuffed shirt". I just don't…"

"Don't what? Don't have a sense of humor? Don't think you can allow yourself to laugh at my jokes, what?"

"No! I just don't think… that it's a good idea for us… We're not exactly on the same side, you know," he said miserably, sliding down the bulkhead to his mat in a tangle of chains.

"For your information, you big jerk, I think we've been on the same 'side' already for a while now!" said Katara, sliding down next to him.

"Fine. You're probably right. You're probably _always_ right. It must be really nice to be right, because I don't think _I've_ been right about _anything_ I've done at all now for about _three years_!"

Silence. "And if I'm such a jerk, why are you sitting next to me?"

Katara noticed that she was, indeed, sitting next to Zuko - right next to Zuko. Close enough to touch him. Which she almost was. "Sorry. I wasn't thinking," she said, and shifted to her knees to get up.

Zuko stopped her with a hand on her arm. "Wait. I'm sorry. You can stay here, if you want," he said, in a low, husky voice. "I'd… like it, if you would."

-+-+-+-+

As Azula boarded the ship following a soiree hosted by the Harbormaster of Ten Yu (yawn), she was met by the lieutenant in charge of the evening prison detail.

"Your Highness," he bowed.

"What is it, Fu?"

"Your Highness wished to be informed of any… developments in the forward hold."

"And?"

"I think it best if you see for yourself, Princess," he said, as he led the way below deck. "If you'd follow me, please?"


	11. Tears

Ch 11

Tears! tears! tears!  
In the night, in solitude, tears,  
On the white shore dripping, dripping, suck'd in by the sand,  
Tears, not a star shining, all dark and desolate,  
Moist tears from the eyes of a muffled head;  
O who is that ghost? that form in the dark, with tears?  
What shapeless lump is that, bent, crouch'd there on the sand?  
Streaming tears, sobbing tears, throes, choked with wild cries;  
O storm, embodied, rising, careering with swift steps along the beach!  
O wild and dismal night storm, with wind--O belching and desperate!  
O shade so sedate and decorous by day, with calm countenance and  
regulated pace,  
But away at night as you fly, none looking--O then the unloosen'd ocean,  
Of tears! tears! tears!

Walt Whitman

Sokka held his aching head in his hands. His mouth tasted like the gunk between Appa's toes. Somehow, he had expected losing his virginity to be more, well, _joyful_. Why did he feel so - shamed? And the speechless, expressionless guards, as he was escorted to his cell - why did he feel their silence now as something mocking, disdainful?

When Ty Lee had rolled from him, sated, and sighing, why did the faint crescent moon choose that moment to glide from behind the clouds?

He was still breathing hard, dizzy and sweating and searching for his clothes, when Azula strode in, kicking the pillows out of the way and calling for an escort to take him back to his cell. Just as the door shut behind them, blocking out the candles, the cushions, the incense, the wine, he'd heard her saying something to Ty Lee. He was only just now realizing what she'd said…

_How precious_, Azula had mocked. _The two of them loosing their virginity on the same night!_

Katara – or even Toph. He tried not to think about it. His stomach rebelled, and he choked on bile.

_I'll fight her next time_, he thought, _if there is a next time. I swear I will, Yue, Suki; I'll kill her for taking what I wanted to give to you_.

He grabbed the chamber pot just in time, and heaved. It was a long, miserable time before he cried himself to sleep.

-+-+-+-+

Aang lay in a stupor of brandy and eucalyptus, still feverish and weak. The Ladies came to dose him every few hours throughout the night, or maybe they just never left. He could hear them murmuring to each other with voices like the wind whistling through a cave as they sat on either side of him, covering him when he was cold, bathing him with cool cloths when he burned.

He sank in and out of dreams, sometimes speaking, and knowing that he spoke, but with words he couldn't hear and using someone else's voice. Once, he knew, he cried, but couldn't remember why.

When at last he woke and looked up at them, two twin white faces over black robes, perched on their stools, he thought of two black seagulls. They were waiting, watching him. He was supposed to tell them something.

"I'll be staying, after all, I think," he croaked, and sank back into darkness.

"Such a sweet boy," said one.

"Harrumph," said the other.

-+-+-+

A soft, familiar footstep, a quiet clicking as a key turned, carefully muffled. The door opened, and closed again. Toph could hear him breathe.

"It's late, isn't it?" Toph said, quietly.

"I know. I'm sorry. Should I leave?" asked Pao.

Toph shook her head. "I'm cold," she said dully.

Pao knelt on the mat, and touched one bare foot. It was like ice.

"Could I…? I'm not a very good bender, but I can do this," he said timidly. He lifted her foot and breathed, and it was warm, so warm. "Is this okay?"

"Oh, said Toph, with shiver, "Oh, Pookie-wookie-woo, that is definitely okay. You have exactly 6 hours to stop that," she sighed, lying back on the mat.

Pao gently warmed her feet, one at a time, rubbing them soothingly. Toph thought she felt… no, he didn't just _kiss_ her foot, did he?

"Here, give me your hands," he whispered croakily, scooting closer, leaning over… lying down.

Toph touched his face, confirming what she thought she heard in his voice. _Tears_, she thought.

"Toots," she whispered "Fire-kitty, hey, what's wrong?"

"I just want to go home."

She couldn't answer. There wasn't anything to say. Toph gathered him awkwardly into her arms. Gently she patted his shoulder, stroked his forehead.

"They killed one of those girls tonight," said Pao, weeping quietly. "Out on deck, in front of all the others. They hit her and hit her until she wasn't moving any more, and then they laughed about it."

"Who?" hissed Toph, suddenly cold again. "Do you know who?"

Pao nodded. "Yeah, I know him. Them. There are these three guys, from Zhao's old crew, they're always roughing up the Dirt Girls – I mean, the prisoners," he said, miserably.

Pao tightened his hold on her, muffling sobs onto her shoulder. Her breast band was getting damp.

"You're too good for this place, Pigeon," said Toph, staring sightlessly at the ceiling as she cradled the young man's head to her breast. _Breathe in, breathe out…_

-+-+-+

Far off, up the coast, a petite armored figure and a taller, silent boy faded into the shadows.

"You heard them?" she asked.

The tall boy nodded.

"I hope we're doing the right thing," said the girl, looking at the small, bison-shaped whistle in her hands. "Cause I don't think we'll get another chance like this."

The tall boy put his hand on her shoulder, and met her eyes.

"Yeah, I know. It's the right thing to do," she sighed. "Let's go."


	12. Signs

Ch 12

Ch 12

(Author's Note – same as for Ch 7, if you don't know who Hou Tu is, read I Greet The God Within You.)

(Additional Author's Note, Sept 25 – Pulled this chapter down today and totally gutted and re-wrote it. As much as I love lemons for Iroh, this one was not advancing the story. I hope this version does. Thanks for your patience, please keep reviewing. – Tante Liz)

FLESH, I have knocked at many a dusty door,

Gone down full many a midnight lane,

Probed in old walls and felt along the floor,

Pressed in blind hope the lighted window-pane,

But useless all, though sometimes when the moon

Was full in heaven and the sea was full,

Along my body's alleys came a tune

Played in the tavern by the Beautiful.

Then for an instant I have felt at point

To find and seize her, whosoe'er she be,

Whether some saint whose glory doth anoint

Those whom she loves, or but a part of me,

Or something that the things not understood

Make for their uses out of flesh and blood.

**John Masefield – Poet Laureate of England 1930-1967**

Memory was unsatisfactory. Despair was unthinkable. Hope was elusive.

_Hou Tu, _he silently pleaded_, Lady Earth, where is my sign? Show me, and I will do what must be done. Until then, I will just lie here, and think of you… _

**Click.** Not a bang, slam, march, or clang – just a click. The door to his cell opened almost noiselessly. Iroh was instantly awake, willing himself to stay still, to breathe evenly.

"Sir?" came a young man's voice at the door, barely above a whisper. "General Iroh? Are you awake, sir?"

The door opened a little wider, and a pale, wide-eyed face appeared.

"How kind of you to ask," answered Iroh quietly. "So much more courteous to an old man than all this banging and pushing and shoving of shields in my face."

Iroh waited a moment, but the boy seemed unsure.

"Come in, if you want," he said benevolently. "I promise not to hurt you."

The young guard stepped inside, and shut the door behind him. _Trusting soul,_ thought Iroh, as the boy knelt beside him on the mat. Iroh waited.

"Was there something you wished to tell me, or were you just looking for a quiet place to think?" asked Iroh after the silence lengthened.

"Sir, I…" Pao took a deep breath. "I am disobeying direct orders by speaking to you."

Iroh nodded. "Yes, I undeerstand. It's difficult, isn't it? To know the right thing to do, when our loyalties conflict," sympathized Iroh.

Pao nodded. "I know the _right_ thing to do," he said miserably. "I just don't think there _is_ much I can do."

"Mmm," agreed Iroh. "What can one young man do, after all? Against the entire Fire Nation army?"

"It's not just me, sir, it's my family. I can't do anything that would put them in danger." Pao sighed deeply. "General, I was just a kid when you left Ba Sing Se, and when all your men came home, everyone said you were a traitor…but they… the families, like mine, my mother lit candles for you and wrote your name on rice paper and wrapped it around incense to burn in the shrine at night."

There was silence. Iroh waited. "My father came home, then, too. It was the first time we had seen him in two years. He never said you were a traitor; he told us you were a wise man who knew when enough was enough. And then, when the Fire Lord died, and you didn't – he… well, he was…"

Iroh smiled self-deprecatingly. "Ah, but if I _had_ inherited my father's throne, look how much I would have missed!"

Pao smiled shyly, ducking his head. "I just wanted to tell you that, sir, and to let you know that… everyone's alright. The Avatar, he's been sick with a cold, but his companions, they're all okay."

"Thank you, son. It means a lot to me to know that," said Iroh, huskily. "And my nephew, is he well?"

"Yes, I think so, sir, but he's not here in this block. He's in the forward hold with the Water Bender, but I saw them, yesterday, when they took them to the shower room, and they were both… okay," he paused.

"What is your name, son?" Iroh asked kindly.

"Pao, sir. My father is Captain Shei."

"Shei? Small man, with a limp, an excellent rider?"

"Yes, sir!" Pao smiled.

"I remember your father. A good man, Captain Shei. I had the pleasure of teaching him, and a few of his friends, to play Pai Sho during the siege," he said with a sly grin. "It helped to pass the time."

"He would be honored, sir, to know you remember him," Pao bowed.

"What is Shei doing these days," asked Iroh, with interest.

Pao was silent. "I don't know, sir. He's somewhere patrolling the interior. We… I… haven't heard from him in a long time."

Iroh patted the young man's hand. "When you hear from him, give him my regards. Now," he said, shifting uncomfortably, "You will be missed, and I don't want you to get into any trouble with your Captain."

Pao grasped the General's hand and bowed over it. "We're weighing anchor at dawn, but I'll try to come down and see Toph – I mean, see everyone and… and…"

"Perhaps you could tell my nephew where I am, so he doesn't worry, no?"

"Yes, sir, I'll do that." Pao rose, bowed again, and slipped silently away, the lock clicking in place with a little pop.

"Now," Iroh asked himself with a smile, "where was I? Ahhh, yes…"

_Iroh raised himself up on one elbow and looked down at Hou Tu, her copper hair spread out over his chest and gleaming in the firelight. "I believe you said something about me getting my turn?" he asked, pulling her wrists over her head and leaning down to lazily suckle the rosy tip of her breast. _

_"Mmmmmmmm," she shivered. "So, Man would like a little dominion over the Earth, no?" _

_"And getting my turn is the only reason I didn't _burn_ your damn little blue chains to a crisp, by the way," he added, between kisses that were growing more imperative. "Because I plan to use them to put you into some very interesting and potentially uncomfortable positions." _

_"You couldn't have burned them if you tried, darling. Oh, and but the way," she said, wriggling from his arms and scampering down the veranda steps to the lake, "I'm afraid you're going to have to catch me, first…" _


	13. Flames Will Grow

Ch 13

(Author's Note – **WARNING MATURE CONTENT WARNING MATURE CONTENT WARNING**. This is a pairing almost as dear to my heart as Iroh and Hou Tu. I read what others write, and there is always something missing for me – Zuko's soul. Anyone who has ever dealt with troubled youth can tell you that inside of every angry young man (or woman) is the desire to be loved and needed, the desire to be heroic. It is only when our hopes of heroism are dashed that anger makes us cruel. - Tante Liz)

How long can I lament  
with this depressed heart and soul?

How long can I remain a sad autumn  
ever since my grief has shed my leaves?

The entire space of my soul  
is burning in agony.

How long can I hide the flames  
wanting to rise out of this fire?

How long can one suffer the pain of hatred  
of another human, a friend behaving like an enemy?

With a broken heart how much more  
can I take the message from body to soul?

I believe in love,  
I swear by love,  
believe me, my love.

How long like a prisoner of grief  
can I beg for mercy?

You know I'm not a piece of rock or steel,  
but hearing my story  
even water will become as tense as a stone.

If I can only recount the story of my life,  
right out of my body flames will grow.

Mowlana Jalaluddin Rumi Tajikistani Poet and Sufi Mystic 1207-1273

Katara looked down at his pale hand on her bare arm in the red glow of the lantern. It was long and narrow, with tapering, almost delicate fingertips. She remembered the site of those long, elegant hands as they reached around her neck, dangling her mother's necklace in front of her, so many months ago. She remembered the chill that had run down her spine as she instinctively recognized the promise inherent in those hands, and the feeling of wanting, but fearing, their touch.

She felt his eyes on her, and met their gaze. Pain, wariness, weariness, loneliness – again acting on instinct, she raised her other hand and rested it gently on his cheek. Softly, just a comforting gesture. Without meaning to, he leaned into her touch. Her hand was cool and soft, and there was that faint scent of snow that he remembered. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, leaning in a little closer. It was like passing through a veil.

Who kissed whom first they could never have said. All either of them knew was that, exactly at the right moment that it should have been so, lips found lips in the amber darkness and softly touched each other.

_Breathe in, breathe out,_ he thought, fire growing in his belly, afraid to move and frighten her. _Breathe in, breathe out._

Katara reached out a tentative hand, lightly stroking the bare, smooth skin of Zuko's chest. _So warm, _she thought. Her fingertips found his collarbone and traced it to the notch below his throat. She could feel his pulse quicken. _Did I do that?_ she wondered.

She parted her lips, and pulled gently at his, not really knowing what she was looking for. He gave it to her, opening his mouth and deepening the kiss so easily. Now it was Katara's turn to feel a fire growing inside, as a deep, gentle throbbing began between her legs.

Her breath caught, and he felt the change. With all the control he could muster, he carefully stroked his hand up her arm, gently, ever so gently. _Oh, thank you, thank you, Uncle, for your patient teaching!_ Over her shoulder in soft, soothing movement – _not too fast, not too fast_, and rising up the column of her slender throat – _feel her heart beat! _- to caress the back of her neck.

With a deep shuddering breath Katara tilted her head back against his hand, opening her mouth to him, arching her back so that her small, perfect breasts stood out against the ragged shift. Zuko couldn't help it, he had to feel the subtle roundness in his hand, test the curve against his palm, discover the tiny hard bud through the linen with the base of his thumb.

She didn't pull away. She didn't want to – it felt so lovely, the warmth of his hand, like sunlight. She began to understand that she wanted something, needed something, and it frightened her. Her lips slid away from his, but not far, and traveled up the scarred cheek to his ear.

"Zuko," she whispered, in a ragged, pleading breath.

The sound of his name on her lips was like a whip laid on his back. His pulled her closer, up onto her knees and over his, chain rattling against chain, until she was nestled there between his legs, leaning back against his left arm, her lips caressing his ear, his face, his whole, horrible, ugly scar. He nearly sobbed.

"Katara", he choked out, "Katara, do you really want this? Please tell me, because I… I couldn't stand it… I've already hurt you so much, hurt everyone so much…"

"_Shhhhh,_" she breathed, "You're not hurting me now, Zuko. You're not – you don't have to be the bad guy anymore. I… " She swallowed hard and reached up, fumbling with the top button of her shift.

"I do, I do want… this… you… ohhhh…" she groaned as the ragged garment parted and his hand slid into the breach, searing her bare skin. "Ohhhh, please, if you stop now I think I'll die!"

"Can you trust me?" he steamed, kissing down her throat to the tiny, hard nipple. "Will you?"

"Yes, I… please, please, I… I don't know what to do!" she gasped as he nipped gently at the hardened flesh.

"I do," he breathed, "I do."

With meticulous passion, he clung to his Uncle's lessons. _Hold her, catch her scent, taste her, feel her…and when someone important decides to make love to you, you'd better hope you're a fast learner!_

He undid the buttons of her shift, peeling back the edges just a little bit at a time, kissing each new exposed inch of skin with deliberate care. _When you undress a woman, especially the first time, do it like you're unwrapping a very special present,_ came his Uncle's words. Down her belly, his arm lifting her light-as-a-feather body higher, he tasted the sweetness of her cool flesh until the shift lay open before him, the frail curls of her maidenhair revealed.

Carefully he parted the strands, his graceful fingertips searching. His eyes met hers and asked her yet again, wordlessly, for her consent. She responded by rising to his touch, opening her thighs with a languid sigh, shifting her hips against the hardness still enclosed beneath the folded loincloth he wore about his hips.

Moisture, like a secret pool, welled up inside of her as his fingers explored her delicate forest. He had no idea everything would be so… so _soft_! Especially since he was so unbelievably, unbearably hard.

_Basics, Zuko, basics!_ He heard his Uncle say. In those few days they had stayed at the ramshackle, abandoned cabin on the mountaintop, Iroh had given him lessons in fire bending under the sun and in lovemaking under the stars. Each night by the fire, when Zuko thought his blushes were hidden, Iroh delivered long and fascinating lectures to the young Prince in the ancient and venerable art of pleasing a woman.

_A woman untried is like rice paper,_ he would say, _delicate and easily torn. _Uncle Iroh tore a scrap of paper in two, tossing one half on the fire. _But look,_ he said, crumpling and smoothing, rubbing and fondling the remaining bit of paper until it softened and swelled in the heat and oil of his hand. _See? It won't tear so easily now!_

Circling gently, his fingertips entered her secret place as he kissed her again. She moaned against his mouth, twisting, pushing up against his hand, wanting more.

"Slowly, we have to go slowly," he breathed, "You're so, so little here. I would hurt you, I know it, and I don't want to…"

"I don't care," she gasped, lifting her hips. Her head was spinning.

"But I do," he said in her ear, "No more hurting. No more," he said, sternly. "I know what I need to do, and you're just going to have to do as I tell you to do for a change, little Water-Bender."

His mouth covered hers, and he moved his fingertips in a circular motion, laying siege to her walls. Stretching, easing, circling; he kissed her lips, her hair and her eyes as his blood pounded and the urge to burn something grew. When he was able to ease two fingertips past the membrane he began to move them in a rhythm their bodies instinctively knew.

Impatiently, she writhed on his lap, her head tossing, back arched, breasts lifting to his mouth. He kissed their yielding softness, testing one delicate brown nipple between his teeth, until she began to clench around his hand.

He inserted a third fingertip and she cried out. Afraid he was hurting her, he started to pull it back out again but she grabbed his hand and forced it back in place. Zuko caught her wrist as it flailed, preventing the chain from cracking her across the face, and held on. _This is what Uncle meant when he said she might feel like struggling_, he thought with wonder.

Her climax was the most achingly beautiful thing he had ever seen. His own followed almost immediately, just from watching her. The glow of her skin, the wondrous dance of her movements, the little kittenish mews and cries, _I will never tire of this,_ was the thought that rose with amazing clarity from the mush in his brain. _Never._

Katara's breathing came in ragged sobs as she repeated his name like a mantra, like a prayer.

"More?" he asked in her ear, holding her and rocking her against his chest as they caught their breath. "Can you take more? Because I want… I want to…"

She touched his lips with her fingertips. "I know what you want," she said, smiling up at him.

Gently, Zuko laid her down on the thin mat. _Beautiful,_ he thought, _How come I didn't know she was so beautiful?_

He quickly unwound the soiled loincloth from his hips and tossed it aside. Blessed with the resiliency of youth, he was hardening again as he crouched above her.

She watched, fascinated. Reaching out one small, sun-browned hand, she touched the living silk where his spent seed clung, moist and glistening. When she brought her fingertips back to her lips, delicately tasting with the tip of her tongue, he thought he might explode again just at the sight.

She wrinkled her nose and licked her lips. "Salty," she said, and giggled. He touched his own fingertips to her lips,

"So are you," he said. "Uncle says it's the Sea of Chi, salty like the ocean."

Zuko poised above her, and Katara parted sweetly to him. He knelt as befits a supplicant, and she guided him with her hand until he was resting just inside the temple door.

He stopped, letting her get used to the feeling. She squirmed beneath him, and it took all his strength not to let go and pummel her unmercifully. Never, even while fire bending, had he felt so – _powerful_.

"That's awfully... big," she said, with a note of doubt in her voice. He pushed in a little further, and she gasped, stretching. "I've never…"

"I know. Neither have I."

"You're awfully good at it for never having…"

"Not moving is taking a lot of concentration right now."

"Sorry," she whispered. "What do we do now?"

"Take me," he whispered hoarsely. "Take me in."

Her slender legs lifted, caressing his hips, the chains cold on their bare skin. She locked her ankles behind his back and lifted cautiously.

Zuko held as still as he could, letting her take him at her own pace, shuddering and moaning. Katara lifted her hips again, taking more and more each time, until with a sudden heave she buried him to the hilt.

She cried out and clutched at his shoulders. Zuko kissed her, and kissed her, and kissed her again, whispering in her ear in sweet, soft words he didn't know he even knew. Slowly he lowered his body, giving her more of his weight as her pain eased and she began to writhe beneath him.

They slow-danced a long time together, moaning and sighing, worshiping in the ancient rhythm of heat and cool, fire and water, hard and soft, yin and yang. Faster they climbed, and when at last they could ascend no higher, they poured out their wine like a sacrifice on the alter of an ancient god, true believers in each other's arms.

-+-+-+

Azula's breath was coming in short ragged gasps as she stepped away from the eye-slit in the wall of the cell where she watched her brother's well-muscled backside pumping in and out of the little Water-Tribe whore.

She turned to her guard and hissed an order. "You, you, you and you!" she tossed over her shoulder as she nearly raced up the hall. "My quarters! Right now!"

The guards hopped to – they knew better than to disobey the Princess Azula when she demanded their services.

"I am so doing the pedicure this time," said one.

"Fine," said his captain, "But that means you wear the wig."

"It wouldn't be so bad if she'd just lose the damn strap-on," said another.

"I tossed it overboard when we left Lao Wei," said the fourth.

"Sweet!" said the captain.


	14. Midnight Riders

Ch 14

A hurry of hoofs in a village street,  
A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark,  
And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark  
Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet;  
That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light,  
The fate of a nation was riding that night;  
And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight,  
Kindled the land into flame with its heat.  
He has left the village and mounted the steep,  
And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep,  
Is the Mystic, meeting the ocean tides;  
And under the alders that skirt its edge,  
Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge,  
Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides.

- from _The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere_, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1807-1882

It was hard riding, with only the waxing crescent of the moon for light. Risking the possibility of Fire Nation patrols, Suki opted for the main roads in order to make better time. Now and then they passed sleeping villages, heard the bark of a dog or the creak of a shutter as they rode by, but no human face did they see.

Well before dawn, they emerged from the Dao Nan pass and looked out over the valley, the harbor of Guo Bin dark and fog-bound in the distance.

"Now what?" said Ting.

"We wait," said Suki. "At the first sight of the harbor, after we clear the pass, we're to wait for our contact to meet us."

"Looks like we won't have to wait long," said Yu Kai.

A short, roundly built woman was standing in the middle of the road. Suki would have sworn she was not there a moment ago.

"You've made good time, Daughters," came a smoky voice. "My home is near – will you follow me?"

With a nod, Suki dismounted and led her ostrich horse to the path the woman indicated. The other Warriors followed.

Beneath alder and pine stood a long, open shed. Clean straw covered the dirt floor, and the water troughs were full. It did not take long for them to stable their mounts.

The woman led the way through a low opening in a mound of blasted granite. She lit a lantern from an ember box just inside, and the girls followed the smoldering light down a curving passageway to a cavern. Steps led down to an underground lake, and another long, open-walled pavilion, much like the one outdoors, stood at the lakeshore. Sleeping mats and blankets lay waiting for the weary girls.

A cooking fire burned brightly, and an iron pot hung on a tripod above. The woman lifted the lid and stirred the contents, steam rising around her like the fog on the harbor. The smell of a long-simmering hot-pot made their stomachs rumble.

"You will be safe here, Daughters of Kyoshi. Eat and drink, sleep, and refresh yourselves. Tomorrow will be a long day," she said, removing a dusty blue scarf from her hair. She wound the copper-bronze waves up on top of her head and secured the knot with a chopstick. "Tea, anyone?"

Author's Note - Yep, Hou Tu gets around. I am not above using a deus ex machina - sometimes, quite literally!

BTW, I have been amusing myself with poetry and lyric searches to use as headers for the chapters - what do y'all think? Is it jarring to use a piece of modern or semi-modern poetry before a chapter, or does it help to set the mood? Let me know. - Tante Liz


	15. Making Way

Ch 15 Making Way

I must go down to the seas again,

to the lonely sea and the sky,

And all I ask is a tall ship

and a star to steer her by,

And the wheel's kick and the wind's song

and the white sail's shaking,

And a grey mist on the sea's face

and a grey dawn breaking.

- John Masefield

At dawn, the _Fire Maiden_ slipped her moorings, fired up her engines, and made ready to clear the port of Ten Yu. The tide was at full, just beginning to turn; a ship the size and draft of the _Fire Maiden_ required full tide to enter or leave most of the shallow bays of the western coast, so timing was crucial.

The harbormaster's barge was abaft, clearing the fairway for the immense ship to backwater from the pier. On deck, all was action.

"All engines back one third, sir!"

Slowly, the _Fire Maiden_ eased from the pier head.

"Helmsman," boomed the Captain, "Right full rudder!"

"Right full rudder, Sir!" came the answering cry, above the sound of the bosun calling for the mates to stow the ground tackle.

"Check your speed, let her come around!"

"Checked, sir!"

"Handsomely, now!"

Above the din, a shriek was heard from the upper compartments. Moments later, the Master at Arms stepped energetically through the companionway leading to the tower.

"Captain," he said, glibly, "The Princess Azula wishes to register her usual complaints about the volume of noise this early in the morning."

"My apologies to Her Highness, but we'll need to make flank speed west as quickly as possible if we're going to be positioned with the tide to Guo Bin," he said.

"Just passing it on, Sir," he said, and made his way back as quickly as he had come.

The sun was just over the horizon when the big ship finally completed her turn and set her course out to deep water. The grumbling captain closeted himself with the navigator for the next several hours – Guo Bin was possessed of notoriously tricky shoals.

-+-+-+

Katara slept warmly for the first time since being taken captive. More than a few occasions during the night each had woken with a start, not accustomed to sleeping in such close contact with another human being. A reassuring touch, a sleepy kiss, or a whispered word had been enough to confirm (to the wonder of each) that they had not, indeed, dreamed this.

Zuko needed no clock or window to tell him that the dawn was coming. He nuzzled Katara's neck. "Hey," he whispered sleepily.

"Hey," came the drowsy answer.

"You remember what I said about me rising with the sun?"

Giggle. Giggle. Sigh. And the smooching commenced…

Any later and he might have missed it, but just as Zuko was getting warmed up, he felt a deep, thrumming vibration begin.

"Hey," protested Katara, "You stopped. Don't stop…"

"Shhh, wait a minute…do you feel that?"

"Um, which 'that' are you…" and then she felt it, too.

"The engines," said Zuko.

-+-+-+

Iroh, too, felt the great engines fire up. All through the voyage, he had traced the map of the coastline in his head, mentally ticking off the ports under Fire Nation control, and the men who controlled them.

_Guo Bin if we come back around east in eight hours,_ he mused, _Pi An To if we don't_.

He'd been to a marvelous party, once, in Guo Bin. Governor Shen was known for rather decadent hospitality and a taste for fine living. The town had gotten a reputation as a military resort community in the thirty years or more that it had been under Fire Nation control. Ships came out of their way for liberty here.

Iroh examined the links he had been working each day, a little at a time. Not the ones at the wrist, where they were inspected at each watch, but there where they joined the bulkhead. By heating and cooling, heating and cooling, twisting ever so slightly back and forth each time, the four joining links were just a little narrower, just a little weaker, than their fellows.

Iroh smiled.

Author's Note – First of all, I am constantly amazed by the creativity, sensitivity and daring of the writers of _Avatar_. Last night's episode, _Tales of Ba-Sing-Se_, left me breathless.

On another note, the naval terminology used at the beginning of this chapter is the result of googling around for a few days – I would appreciate anyone with greater knowledge helping me out with corrections.

Keep reviewing, friends, it's the only way I know someone's reading!

Thanks,

Tante Liz


	16. Ambition

Ch 16

In man, ambition is the common'st thing;  
Each one by nature loves to be a king.

- Robert Herrick 1591 - 1674

In Guo Bin, the pace of preparations had reached a fever pitch.

Governor Shen was an ambitious man. He was accounted handsome; possessed of charm in his manners and aristocracy in his bearing, self-indulgent, hospitable, and utterly ruthless. Like many another Fire Nation noble of a certain age, he looked on a visit from the Princess Azula with greedy anticipation.

She was young, beautiful, formidable, and destined (in view of the disgrace of Prince Zuko) to inherit the throne of the most powerful nation in the world. Doubtless her choice of consort was already under discussion at the palace of the Fire Lord. Shen needed a way to get in on the running.

Also like many another Fire Nation noble, Shen spread his net far and wide. Buying loyalty has always been a good investment for an ambitious man, and it was amazing what a few coins, preferred supplies and an extra girl or two could purchase in the way of intelligence and devotion.

Of course, it would be convenient if he could manage to persuade the Princess to fall madly in love with him at first sight, but even his vanity did not allow for that – by all reports, Her Highness was hardly what you'd call the romantic type. No, reasoned Shen, her type would be much more impressed with a show of strength than of tenderness.

Like many an ambitious man before him and many to come, he conceived what he thought to be an absolutely marvelous idea.

-+-+-+

Ty Lee woke in the early afternoon, dragged herself to the head and a shower, flipped back and forth about the lounge for a while, and when neither Mai nor Azula showed any signs of waking up anytime soon, flopped down on a pile of pillows and began to feel a little sorry for herself.

She needed something to do. Last night had been really fun, playing cards with Mai and the cute guy – _what was his name, anyway?_ – and after the cards, it had been even more fun. She could still see the adorable look on his face as she began to fondle him, and she would have sworn his eyes actually crossed when she planted herself firmly in the saddle. An actual virgin, too, how sweet!

Ty Lee began to feel a little itchy just remembering. "_Oooop!" _she thought to herself_, "I could keep the cute guy up here!_ She bobbled a little, just at the thought.

What a perfect way to while away the hours of this interminable journey back to the Fire Nation! She'd never had a pet before – surely Azula wouldn't object, if she promised to take care of him and clean up after him and not to make too much noise before two in the afternoon… And Azula could watch all she wanted – it didn't bother Ty Lee, and she _knew_ how much Azula liked to watch.

She rang for the Master of Arms.

-+-+-+

Lady Li and Lady Lo felt confident in the recovery of their patient. His breathing was easier, his fever had turned, and he was sleeping solidly. They were used to sitting up through the night – at a certain age, the need for sleep either increases or decreases – and if you asked them, they never slept at all.

"Are you going to Shen's little party tonight?" asked Li to Lo.

Lo sniffed. "Why would I bother?" she asked.

"Sister, it's _Guo Bin_," she said with a snort. "Remember? Guo Bin? _Dancing boys_? "

"Oh, _that_ place… well, if you insist..." said Lo.

"If _I _insist," harrumphed Li. "_You_ were the one up there, three sheets to the wind, trying to stuff candy in their g-strings last time, not me!"

"Harrumph!"


	17. Head Held High

Ch 17

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high  
Where knowledge is free  
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments  
By narrow domestic walls  
Where words come out from the depth of truth  
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection  
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way  
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit  
Where the mind is led forward by thee  
Into ever-widening thought and action  
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

- Rabindranath Tagore 1861-1941

It was early in the morning, three days ago, and Long Shot and Smellerbee had been trailing those two guys from the teashop for a day or two (more out of curiosity than anything else) when Azula and her soldiers attacked. There were already four other prisoners, unconscious and wrapped about with heavy netting, lying on the dry earth – _the Avatar!_

Taken by surprise in the close confines of the woods, the battle was over quickly. Nets dropped like spiders from the treetops as Zuko and Iroh drew near the four insensible bodies. A cartwheeling, pony-tailed fury had spun in, seeming to paralyze the two men with odd, jabbing punches as they struggled in the heavy nets. Another girl, black-robed and pale, had held a damp rag to each of their noses until the resistance ceased.

The two companions lay hidden in the brush, watching, as the prisoners were carried to the road and dumped into waiting wagons. It was only after the last soldier had disappeared over the crest of the hill that Smellerbee and Long Shot began to back slowly away.

Moments later they were leapt upon by a frantically chittering Momo, who led them to where Appa lay, wounded, at the site of what must have been a great battle. Mounds of earth, fire scars, downed trees, and blood – a lot of blood.

Much of the immense beast's fur was burned away on one side of his body. Dirt and leaves clung to the wounds, where he had rolled to try to put the fire out. They carried water from a stream near-by and washed away the singed hair and leaves – fortunately, the burns were mostly superficial.

They hadn't counted on coming into custody of the Avatar's sky bison – of course, they hadn't really been counting on much of anything since leaving Ba Sing Se - and Jet. How strange, that he had been right about those guys being firebenders all along.

Firebenders or not, the Princess had attacked and captured them. Going on the principle that the enemy of your enemy may possibly be your friend, perhaps these were good guys, after all. At any rate, they had nowhere else special to go, and nothing else special to do. There were supplies and food on Appa's saddle, and by that evening they were able to get him off the ground, after Long Shot had a long and silent chat with him.

They traveled at night, paralleling the coastline and hiding in the woods atop the bluffs during the day. It was pure luck that Smellerbee and Long Shot had come upon and overheard Suki and her warriors on the evening of the third day. Following them would mean losing sight of the ship. It was a tough decision, but they decided to turn inland and tag along, just in case.

In the gray, pre-dawn glow, they set down on the road on the downhill side of the Dao Nan pass. The moment Appa touched the ground, Momo was off and into the woods. It didn't take long for him to sniff out the stables, with Smellerbee and Long Shot close behind.

"Well, they're somewhere nearby," said Smellerbee, lowering her knives as they approached the ostrich horses. Long Shot lowered his bow and reached up to stroke a fluffy muzzle.

"Looking for someone?" came a deep male voice behind them.

_Fire Nation!_ Six men in Fire Nation uniforms surrounded them. A seventh approached, accompanied by the tall girl they had overheard on the other side of the pass and a small, round women in non-descript gray robes – holding Momo.

"Ah, finally," said the woman. Momo chattered excitedly, wrapping himself about the woman's scarf-covered head. "And where is your great, furry friend?" she asked.

Momo scampered off, toward the road. "Suki, take the Lieutenant and his men – and our new friends, too, of course – inside. Tell the girls there has been a change in plans."

-+-+-+

Pao slept poorly. He had made a difficult decision, but didn't know what to do next – _exactly how _do_ you go about betraying your country?_ he thought. He lay in his bunk, feeling the roll and sway as the great ship made for open water, remembering the parades, the songs, the games he'd played as a child. All for the glory of the Fire Nation – except it didn't look all that glorious to him now.

Once, the Avatar had been only an abstract concept to him. Now, he was a little kid with a runny nose and a bald head. Once, the Dragon of the West had been practically a mythical being. Now, he was a kind and wise old man lying in chains just a deck below him, someone who had played Pai Sho with his father; he was the man who had brought his father home alive and in one piece.

And Toph – _who knew an Earth Kingdom girl could be so… so nice? So funny, and kind, and… _He felt Toph's arms around his shoulders, felt her small, calloused fingers on his forehead. _…and warm?_

He closed his eyes, hearing in his mind the screams of the girl Zhao's men had beaten to death. Except, this time, it was Toph's face he saw, beaten and bloodied, Toph's hands reaching out to him, begging, imploring him to help her, Toph's voice crying out for her mother as the kicks and blows continued to fall on her broken body until there was nothing left to break.

Pao pushed his closed fists against his eyes, trying to blind himself to the sight, but it wouldn't go away. _It has to stop,_ he thought, _and it has to stop with me._

Pao rolled from his bunk. _If you want to catch a fish,_ he thought, _talk to a fisherman. If you want to turn traitor, ask a traitor. _After all, he was not the only seventeen-year-old fire bender on this ship…

**Author's Note** - Many thanks to those of you who commented on the naval terminology - and especially to Kavani, our Navy Nuke!

After a long evening of brainstorming with my all-suffering husband, I hope to be updating more frequently now. As you can see, there are a lot of reins in hand here, and a lot going on outside of the story - tying it all together is trickier than I thought.

Thanks again for so many encouraging reviews! The feedback is one of the best parts of this site. I only wish there were a counter that showed how many people actually read the stories, as reviews seem to be the only way to tell if you have any readers. Especial thanks to Jimi's Little Wing - really liking _Push and Pull_, so if you haven't looked at it yet, check it out.

Love,

Tante Liz


	18. With Fortune and Men's Eyes

**WARNING MATURE CONTENT WARNING MATURE CONTENT WARNING**

Ch 18

When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes  
I all alone beweep my outcast state,  
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,  
And look upon myself, and curse my fate,  
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,  
Featured like him, like him with friends possess'd,  
Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,  
With what I most enjoy contented least;  
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,  
Haply I think on thee,—and then my state,  
Like to the lark at break of day arising  
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;  
For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings  
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

- William Shakespeare

Sokka awoke with a headache nearly as bad as the one he'd gone to sleep with. Getting dragged off to the shower room by the silent, masked and efficient guards – _Are these the same guys? Do they know?_ - didn't make him feel any better.

When they marched him up the same companionway to the same lounge full of the same pillows and playing cards, he mentally girded his loins to resist – and face the consequences. The problem is, his loins were already letting him know that they had other ideas. The memory of Ty Lee's perky little breasts, the fruity scent of her hair, her skillful, eager hands and lips, the bobbling… _oh, yeah, the bobbling_…

Sokka gulped, breathing a little harder. There was no one in the lounge, and the taciturn guards hustled him straight to an open door at the far end of the room. It was a small but opulent stateroom; a really, _really_ girlie little bedroom – pink walls, pink carpet, pink pillows, pink and cream and gold on the bed, on the wall hangings, even on the ceiling.

Sokka was abruptly knocked to his knees. Two guards held his arms behind his back while a third wrapped something around his neck. He heard the click of a lock as they attached a chain, then he was thrown forward, face first on the sickeningly pink carpet. The guards departed as abruptly and wordlessly as they came.

For the space of a long-drawn breath, he stayed where he was. Fists clenched and unclenched, then his hands reached up slowly to touch it. A dog collar – a thick, studded, leather dog collar. Loose enough for him to breathe, but too tight to slip more then two fingers between it and the skin of his throat. The chain coiled on the floor at the foot of the bed, and attached to a metal floor plate.

The chain was long enough for him to reach anywhere in the room or the small, private head attached, and even out the door onto a narrow balcony. They were headed west at high speed, and it was windy out there. The guards hadn't bothered giving him a shirt, this time, and he shivered. The wind in his face helped Sokka feel a little more alert, but he was still in a state of shock.

Ty Lee seemed to come out of nowhere. "Ooooh, you're back! We're going to have a great time," she cooed, running her fingers down Sokka's chest and into his pants. "I get to keep you up here all to myself!"

Sokka turned and grabbed the girl's arms. "No way. Not again. You're really cute, and all, and I'm sure you'd be a very nice person to get to know under other circumstances, but there is no way I'm going to stay up here chained to your bed like some kind of damn _pet_," he said, marching past her into the stateroom.

"Now, you might as well just forget this whole bondage-thing right now and send me back down below, because I am _not_ cooperating," he said, his arms crossed over his chest with determination.

Ty Lee laughed. "You don't need to cooperate, silly," she giggled, "Watch this!"

Before Sokka could move, Ty Lee swept his feet from under him and jabbed him twice on each hip. He landed hard on the coiled chain, and tried to roll aside. Two more jabs to the point of each shoulder, and his arms were tingling and limp.

Sprawled on his back on the fuzzy pink carpet, he watched in mixed shame and admiration as Ty Lee quickly wriggled from her clothing. To his embarrassment, he saw a tent form in his trousers. Reddening, he looked away, but Ty Lee was quick to pounce. Her nimble fingers easily stripped him of both clothing and pride.

"Naked! Wheee! I gotcha naked again," she squealed.

"Fine," said Sokka. "I will just lie here and think of the most un-sexiful things I can think of and keep my eyes closed and… and…" he swallowed. "and you _cannot make me like it_!" he shouted.

"Is that a challenge?" bounced Ty Lee. "Cause I know something I have been dying to try."

In about five seconds flat, Ty Lee had fellated him to full throttle. "Now," she said, wriggling her fingers, "here goes…"

"_That's_ what you've been dying to try?" asked Sokka, breathing hard.

"Hush," said Ty Lee. She picked her targets. "Here, here, and… right here!"

With three little jabs to his groin, Sokka's eyes rolled back in his head. Waves of almost painful sensation rolled over him, and his full erection pulsed even fuller.

"Oooooh, it works! It works!" Ty Lee bounced. She flipped backwards with glee, then forwards again, landing neatly astraddle Sokka's hips. "Here we go!"

Sokka groaned, his brain turning to mush. With his arms and legs nearly immobilized, all motion was concentrated in his hips. All his awareness seemed to be focused on his nether regions – he could barely see Ty Lee bobbling and bouncing above him against the pink blur of the ceiling, could only feel the need to push and thrust and keep _moving, moving, moving… _The degradation seemed to go on and on.

_I want to die, just let me die,_ he thought, in his disgrace. _But oh, sweet, leaping lemurs, what a way to go!_

His brain, no, his whole body exploded. At least, that's what it felt like. He was only vaguely aware of Ty Lee as she rolled from him and skipped happily into the head.

When the room stopped spinning enough for Sokka to open his eyes, he noticed a rather disheveled, red-cheeked Azula standing just inside the stateroom door. She leaned down and, with surprising force, hauled up on the chain until Sokka's face was within an inch of hers.

"Listen to me, you skinny little piece of Water Tribe shit," she hissed. "You are still alive right now for one reason and for one reason only, and that is because a noble woman of the Fire Nation has decided that you are at least _one step_ above a dildo, do you understand me?"

Sokka nodded, too stunned to speak. She slapped him, hard, with an open hand; Sokka reeled, tasting blood. She wrenched him back up to his knees and sneered down at him.

"The day that you do not thoroughly please your new owner, Waterdog, is the day you die. Try anything, and I will slow-roast every single last one of your little friends, too, and you will get to watch it all. Dig it?" She slapped him again. He could hear Ty Lee humming in the shower.

"I'm off to go visit my brother – he's down below, fucking _his_ new bitch. Your sister seems a natural at it, too, I don't think he'll need to train her much at all."

Sokka gasped. _Katara! And Zuko!_

"Oh, poor little doggie, did you think he was on _your_ side? Did he make you think he'd _changed_?"

_What is she talking about?_

"Oh, yes, you did, didn't you?" she jeered. "Stupid pig! Did you think a Prince of the Fire Nation would ever actually betray his country? He thought of this little plan all by himself – quite an actor, isn't he? He fooled even our Uncle," she tossed over her shoulder as she strode out of the stateroom, slamming the door behind her.

Sokka was confused. Sick, dizzy, stinging, slimy, tingling, hungry, and very, _very_ confused…

**Author's Note** - I can't express my thanks enough, readers and reviewers! 7704 hits, as of this morning - thanks, True Dreamer, for letting me know about the Stats button.

Last night the moon was nearly at full - it is the Autumn Moon Festival in China, and the Jewish holiday of Sukkot (sort of like Thanksgiving, for a whole week). In China, those that are parted one from another will look up at the moon during the Autumn Moon Festival and know that their loved ones see the same moon, even if far away. Tomorrow night, when we have our extended family party in my mother's Sukkah, my husband and my son and I will take our daughter and stand beneath the Autumn Moon and look up, knowing that somewhere in China, half a world away, there is another family looking up at the moon with empty arms. We will never forget them, and we promise to care for her and love her as long as we live.

Thank you.

- Tante Liz


	19. A Strange Alliance

**Author's Note** - 9987 hits as of this writing (101006, 2300 CST) Thank you all for the reviews and the patience. This chapter was a challenge to write, so forgive how long it took to come out. For some reason it was difficult for me to find the lieutenant's voice without a cross between Horatio Hornblower, Jane Austen and my grandfather poking through...

Ch 19

The sun came up on the Spanish sea  
Our homeland far behind us  
Being hunted by the King's Navy  
It's sure he'd never find us  
Pull away, me lads o' the Cardiff Rose  
And hoist the Jolly Roger

We brought her into the leeward wind  
And made for the Caribbean  
For thoughts of what it might have been  
Destroys a human being

But thoughts about the Spaniards' gold  
And learning' to desire it  
Can make a man so brash and bold  
He'll soon become a pirate  
Pull away, me lads o' the Cardiff Rose  
And hoist the Jolly Roger

Now a gleam came into the Captain's eyes  
As he spied an English clipper  
"She looks the perfect shape and size  
Let's all aboard and strip her"

We fired a shot across her bow  
And eased ourselves beside her  
With our keels as close as she'd allow  
We swung from the deck to ride her  
Pull away, me lads o' the Cardiff Rose  
And hoist the Jolly Roger

Up she stumbles and starts to pitch  
And signals for assistance  
We tightened our hold another hitch  
And ended her resistance

Now there's many a day on the Spanish sea  
I served aboard that raider  
But we never did nothing more beautifully  
Than the way that we belayed her  
Pull away, me lads o' the Cardiff Rose  
And hoist the Jolly Roger

Her hold was hot as St.Elmo's fire  
Her chests were filled with treasure  
We took as much as we'd require  
Then took more for our pleasure

Now there's many a day on the Spanish Main  
But none I hold so dear  
As the happy day I first became  
A scurvy buccaneer  
Pull away, me lads o' the Cardiff Rose  
And hoist the Jolly Roger

- Roger McGuinn

Suki paused at the entrance to the cavern. "Perhaps I should… would you mind if I just stepped in a little ahead of you and … you see, we've been swimming, and maybe not everyone's dressed yet…"

"We will wait here," said the Lieutenant.

Suki rounded the corner and hurried down the stairs into the cavern proper. A state of undress was _not_ what she was worried about. "Fall out, Ladies," she snapped.

A short time later, Lt Jee and his men politely ignored the clearly raised voices from below.

"Oh, this is just great Suki," spat Ting, "Are you out of your mind?"

"Let her finish, Ting.." Wen Ji started to reply.

"Suki, when did you know about this?" demanded Yu Kai.

"I don't understand…" whined Hui La.

"And what exactly does 'a change of plans' mean?" asked Ai Lu

The level of the chaotic babble rose. The officers of the _Phoenix_ stood, motionless and expressionless, behind their commander. Smellerbee and Long Shot exchanged nervous glances.

Hou Tu strode past them in the passageway, signaling abruptly for them to follow. "Enough!" she commanded, descending the stairs. Her voice echoed throughout the cavern and reverberated eerily in the seven dark passageways leading deep into the mountain.

There were gasps as the girls saw the Fire Nation uniforms. Repulsion, anger, fear – and curiosity – flit by turn across each face. Falling back on discipline, they filed in behind Suki as she followed Hou Tu into the pavilion.

It was an awkward little tea party at first. In two parallel rows, the Kyoshi Warriors silently eyed the Fire Nation sailors, the sailors eyed the girls (not in quite the same way), Long Shot and Smellerbee handed round the tea tray and tried their best to be invisible, and Momo leapt everywhere and onto everyone.

"Lieutenant," spoke Hou Tu, when all had been served, "Perhaps you would be so kind as to explain to these young women who you are and what part you hope to play in our story."

Lt Jee raised haggard eyes in a proud, gaunt face and looked at each of the girls in turn. "I will be brief. We are Prince Zuko's men." Several of the Kyoshians shifted, glancing at each other. "When he was exiled, so, effectively, were we."

"For much of the time we traveled together, I admit I had little liking for our Master. I saw him as nothing but a spoiled prince, ill tempered, boorish, disrespectful of his Uncle, and obsessed with what seemed at the time a ridiculous idea. I - we all - thought that capturing the Avatar was a mad, vain pursuit. One evening, after His Highness and I had nearly come to blows over his arrogance, General Iroh told us of how the Fire Lord had dangled one chance at redemption in front of his son like a carrot on a stick – bring home the Avatar, and all will be forgiven."

This was news to many of the young women.

"We wandered the globe for nearly three years before we caught up with him, at the South Pole, Capturing that kid wasn't so hard, the first time." he laughed grimly. "Keeping him, well, that was a different story." Several of the officers nodded.

"Our hunt continued for many months. The Avatar acquired companions, and his skills grew. There were difficult times for us - the Prince was little more than a boy himself. Our tempers were tried, if you know what I mean," Another bleak smile. "We chased him, and we lost him, time after time. And then, word got out that the Avatar still existed and we started getting some competition. That didn't set well with His Highness, or the General."

"Admiral Zhao, in particular," he spoke the name with disgust, "began to fancy our prize for himself. Eventually, he even commandeered our crew to support his attempt at the Northern Water Tribe. On the evening that we were forced to desert the Prince, our ship was attacked, fire-bombed and burned; Prince Zuko was aboard at the time, alone."

Jee paused. Anger filled him at the memory of that evening. "We who had deserted our Master were deserted in turn. No other ship would have us; we were pariahs, tarred by association with an exile. Zhao didn't want us," he said with disgust, "He just wanted to stop Zuko from going. I tried to get word to General Iroh, but we were barred from him. The armada sailed, and we remained behind."

Jee rose, and turned from the company. "It didn't take us long to find out who was responsible – it was that bastard Zhao, by way of a crew of pirates – we'd run into them before. We found them, and we killed them, and we took their ship. Not long after, we learned that Prince Zuko had escaped alive, but after such a humiliating defeat in the Northlands, the Fire Lord branded both the Prince and the General as traitors. He dispatched Princess Azula to capture them, or kill them."

"I don't understand - how can a father send his daughter to kill members of their own family?" asked Wen Ji. "What kind of daughter would agree to this?"

"The Fire Nation Royal Family has never been a model of domestic harmony – Ozai had already stolen the throne from his older brother, General Iroh, and probably still feared him," contributed Hou Tu.

"It took time for me to come to honor and respect Prince Zuko, but the General – he was always – if the bitch has harmed him, there won't be room on the ocean for the two of us!" Jee slammed his hands together in anger, flames at his fingertips.

"We have been forced to survive by becoming pirates ourselves, using the ship of the men we killed." The officers looked at the floor, shame apparent in their hunched shoulders and lowered eyes. "In Guo Bin, they are not… _particular_ about where you come from, nor where you go. The resistance is active in the town, right under the Governor's nose. And that's how we ended up… here," He gestured to Hou Tu and sat back down among his men.

"And here, my friends, is where I can take up this story. Governor Shen plans a citywide carnival tonight in honor of the Princess Azula. I learned today that he plans to offer Her Highness his own troops to guard the prisoners while her entire crew is given shore leave – totally invalidating our original plan. I arranged my introduction to the Governor as a procurer of sorts, and I offered, for a price, to supply the shipboard guards from a skilled performance troop, and arrange for the ship to be attacked by other performers posing as pirates," here she indicated the Fire Nations troops. "The Governor would then have the opportunity to 'rescue" the _Fire Maiden_, and an excuse to insist on himself and his ships as an escort on her return to the Fire Nation."

"Azula would never agree to something like _that_, would she?" asked Ya Li, skeptically.

"No, probably not, but the plan was highly theatrical and appealed to Governor Shen's ego, which was all I needed. And so, Warriors of Kyoshi," she refilled Suki's cup, "You will first perform for the Princess and her entourage on the Great Pier, then proceed to board the _Fire Maiden_ and take charge of her prisoners. From there, it will be up to all of you," she smiled.

"Um," spoke up Smellerbee, "Ma'am? Is there… how do we… we want to help, too, Ma'am," she said, awkwardly. Long Shot nodded.

"Well, my young Freedom Fighters," said Hou Tu, "You recall that in every great escape, help always comes at the last minute to save the day?"

They nodded. "I'm saving the two of you for the last minute," she said, grimly.


	20. Committed

Ch 20

Sacred music unsounding,

I stare at you - flowers, roots of the grass, a woman defaced.

I stand before the true altar

listening ever for the voice of gods

Weeds everywhere,

the neigh of pursuing horses

My life of devotion

ignorant of evil

At sight of the mute solemn stone

my heart begins to bleed

Teach us how to love

Facing earth's molesters

facing the furious dying father

He has cleft the place that oppressed him with darkness

Tell us! How can we unfurl into the day

The banner of joyous purple fir?

Birds and we embrace,

Buildings stand erect. Lionesses bless herbivores,

Babies kick in the bellies of men

like rivers on a rampage dividing the land

Holy spring! In my blood there's

an altar-stone onto which music descends.

Worship! Soil, petals of glass,

the pinnacle! There my heart

registers simple songs of the sky

All things on earth revive ten thousand times from death

Now, my heart, pray for them all

- Xue Di, to Van Gogh

"Step right, shift on the ball of your foot, turn, bend your knee, and kick. Now, you try it," said Zuko.

Katara shifted her balance, arms out to her sides. "Step, shift, turn," she repeated.

"Get your hands up, always have them ready," said Zuko, with a light tap on her elbow.

"Got it - hands up, bend, and kick – like this?" said Katara.

"No, no, the heel should predominate – turn the toes slightly lower than parallel," he caught and held her foot, repositioning it as she hopped to keep her balance. "Like that. Try again," he encouraged, and this time, hold the kick in place."

Katara brought her hands up to fighting stance, stepped, shifted, turned, bent her knee, and kicked. "Better, better, now hold it – steady, steady – "

"How long?"

"Hold it an eight count."

"…six, seven, eight!"

"Good! Now try it faster, so you get the spin in, and higher this time," said Zuko, stepping back and dropping to one knee. "A good, hard, stomp," he said, "aim it right above my head."

"I don't want to kick you in the head," said Katara.

"You won't, I know what I'm doing."

Katara stepped, spun, and kicked. Zuko's hand caught her foot and corrected the angle.

"Again."

Katara repeated her kick again, and again, and again.

Zuko caught her foot, but the angle was perfect.

"How does that look," she asked, breathing hard.

"Nice." He paused. "The kicks were pretty good, too," he added

"Huh?"

Zuko grinned. "Hello, kitty..."

"Hey! Are you supposed to be looking while you're teaching?"

In answer, Zuko kissed her toes, then her instep, then her lower leg, then began to work his way along the back of her knee up her inner thigh, sliding forward on his knees until Katara's leg was draped over his shoulder.

"Speaking of teaching," he steamed between kisses, "I think we need some more practicals – you just never _really_ learn something until you do it, and do it, and do it till its perfect…"

Katara groaned, and ran her fingers through Zuko's thick, dark, shaggy hair. "I am all about hands-on learning opportunities," she sighed.

Then they heard it – a scratching sound at the door. Zuko froze in mid-nibble.

"Your Highness?" came a soft voice at the grate. Zuko leapt to his feet, instinctively pulling Katara behind him.

"Who are you?" he asked in a low, cold voice.

"I'm – I'm a friend, sir." Pao paused. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I need to talk to you."

Katara and Zuko looked at each other. "Alright, talk," said Zuko warily.

A key turned. The lock clicked, and in stepped a slightly built ensign – no shield, no mask. He held his hands out in front of him. "We have only a few minutes," he said, breathlessly. "And your Uncle sends his regards," he added.

"Where is my uncle, and how do I know we can trust you?"

"Sir, the General is in the first cell on the larboard side, in the holding units on level four. The Avatar is in the second cell on that side, Toph is across from the General, and your brother, Ma'am, is across from the Avatar. This ship is a modified _Sozin _3, sir; all the original holding cells along the hull have been replaced with…" he paused for breath, "well, that doesn't matter, just that there's only the one block, now, straight down the center like the old _Tiger Lily_ design, sir, which is why you two, sir, ma'am, are up front here in the Observation Room. The General…"

"What do you mean, 'Observation Room'?" asked Katara.

"It's usually used for, um… interrogation, ma'am," said Pao, shyly. "This long joint, here," he pointed to a seam in the bulkhead on the corridor side, "has two reflecting mirrors in it, like a periscope, so you can stand in the passageway and see along the length of the room."

"Oh, my…" gulped Katara.

"The General asked me to tell you he's alright, Your Highness, and he knows… and I wanted to tell you, too, sir, that if there's anything I can do, I'm going to do it," he finished in a rush.

Katara and Zuko exchanged another confused glance. "Anything you can do… to what?" asked Katara, stepping around Zuko's protective arm.

Pao took a deep breath and clenched and unclenched his fists. Then he knelt, hands clasped before him, and bowed low. "Your Highness… Prince Zuko," he began, in a shaking voice. "If it is your desire to return honor to our people, if it is your resolve to stop all this killing and bring us home, if it is your will to give us the Avatar to restore balance to our world, then you belong on the throne, and I am sworn your man."

There was silence. Zuko was stunned. This was an offer of personal fealty – Zuko's mother had raised him in the old ways, and he knew what to do.

Pao looked up as Zuko stepped closer, hope in his white, peaked face. Zuko took both his hands between his own, and spoke the ancient words of acceptance.

"Is this your will, and is your word freely given?" he asked in a voice he almost didn't recognize.

"This is my will, and my word is freely given," Pao whispered in reply.

"The Spirit of Fire hears your word – you are my man, and I am your master."

Katara shivered. She had almost forgotten, not only here in the cell but in the months of his pursuit, that Zuko son of Ozai was a _prince_, a real, live, royal, imperial, practically deified, anciently lineaged and descended of Agni _prince_. Suddenly she felt shy of him, almost… unworthy.

Zuko stepped back and signaled Pao to rise. "I… I have to go, sir. But I can take any message you wish, and I will do anything you ask."

Zuko nodded. "Where is our next port, and when do we dock?"

"Near sundown, sir, at Guo Bin. I'll try to come again, before then."

Zuko put his hand on Pao's shoulder. He looked suddenly much older than the young ensign. "Do not put yourself in danger. I will need you." He stopped, and smiled. "Oh, and I suppose I ought to know your name, soldier?"

"It's Pao, sir, my father is Captain Shen of the 5th, sir. He served with your honored Uncle at Ba Sing Se. They – um, the General told me they played Pai Sho together, sir."

Zuko nodded. Pao bowed hastily to them both, and left as quietly as he had come.

Katara and Zuko looked at each other. Though they stood not three feet apart, Katara felt half a world away. Her heart ached. Her eyes fell.

"Don't," said Zuko.

"Don't what?" answered Katara, voice straining for normalcy.

"Don't… go away," he asked, simply. "Don't be afraid of me. I can't take it. I… I need you, Katara," he said huskily, holding out his hands to her across the abyss.

Katara took his hands in both of hers. With nothing but instinct for a guide, Zuko knelt and looked up at her, his amber eyes reflecting the ruby glow of the door lamp.

"If it is your desire to… to stay with me," he whispered, "If it is your resolve to let me work with you to save the world, if it is your will to love me as I love you, then I am sworn your man."

Tears fell unchecked from her eyes. "Is this your will, and is your word freely given?" she asked.

"This is my will, and my word is freely given," he whispered in reply.

"The Spirit of Fire hears your word," she could barely speak, "you are my man, and I am your… your woman."

Zuko rose and gently folded Katara into his arms. _Now, now I'm committed,_ he thought. It felt surprisingly freeing, as if he had finally done exactly the right thing at the right time. Just one little thought struck him, maybe he ought to clarify…

"Katara," he whispered in her ear. "Katara, love, you do understand… you _do_ know you just married me, right?"

"I _what_!"


	21. Vision

Ch 21

By day give thanks, by night beware

Half the world in sweetness, the other in fear

When the darkness takes you, with her hand across your face

Don't give in too quickly, find the things she's erased

Find the line, find the shape through the grain

Find the outline and things will tell you their name

The table, the guitar, the empty glass

All will blend together when the daylight has passed

Find the line, find the shape through the grain

Find the outline and things will tell you their name

- Suzanne Vega

Toph slept hard after Pao left. She always slept well when she was angry. Anger had been her tool, her guardian, and her secret friend for as long as she could remember. Anger had made it possible for her to hide her true self from her parents and teachers, enabled her to rise to fame as the Blind Bandit, given her the strength to strike out on her own - to follow Aang, against all common sense.

She heard them come for Sokka at mid-day, sensed the reluctance in his footfalls as they passed her cell. She lay quietly, motionless, felt the thrum of the engines, the roll of the ship as she cut through the waves, and breathed.

Toph Bai Fong was six years old before she truly understood that other people saw differently than she – that there was a way of perceiving the world around her that she simply did not possess. This was more a source of curiosity than grief to her – she couldn't miss vision, never having had it. When she was eight, she made the equally startling discovery that other people couldn't combine their senses of sound and touch into the same concrete form of observation that _she_ could. As her earthbending skills grew, so did her belief that her mode of perception was an enhancement rather than a detriment.

Riding on Appa, and entering the desert with Aang, Katara and Sokka, were her first extended experiences with true blindness. The metal of the ship was a better conductor of vibration than the sand, and in moments of deep relaxation and meditation she could sense the residual impurities of earth in the steel – like the resemblance of some long-passed grandmother in a child's face.

_When this is all over,_ she thought, _when we get out of here, how interesting it might be, to study further… okay, at least I'm still thinking "when" and not "if"…_

Experimentally, she shifted with wrists, shoulders and hips until she could push down the thin straw mat she lay upon, bunching it up below her knees, pushing with her feet, until she lay almost entirely upon the steel floor. With a nudge, she bent the accumulated filth under the mat out of the way. Now, she had a better connection – she could almost sense…

_There! That's it,_ she thought. She felt something, someone, moving – to her right, maybe 12 feet away. She heard a faint clang, felt the vibration, and _saw_… _Uncle Iroh?_ (She always called him Uncle in her thoughts, after learning his name from Katara, Sokka and Aang. She liked him.)

It was a strain for her brain to sort out her sensory perceptions into usable information, but it was coming. She sensed a quickening of vibration, where the warmth of a body excited the molecular structure of the metal, slowing beneath the cooler extremities. She felt the faintest drumming, a rhythm different than the engines, repetitive and patterned, like music – was he tapping his fingers?

Excitement clouded her perception. _Breathe in, breath out…_ _be motionless, still, melt into the floor…_ Further away, behind and across from her, another figure lay. Smaller, more diffuse – perhaps Aang? Or Katara? Behind her, there was nothing - she recalled the muffled clang of a door before she perceived Sokka's footfalls pass her by. _Where is he? Why haven't they brought him back?_

For the thousandth time, she shut her mind to the possibility of torture, of pain, of a further degradation. It was enough that she was alive now, that she was unharmed, that it seemed important to Azula to bring them all to the Fire Nation whole and relatively speaking intact – _probably just wants to show off for Big Daddy_, she thought.

She thought of her own father. Once, it had seemed important to her to show off for Daddy – a long time ago, until she realized that any sign of her own independence, her own strength, terrified him.

_How could they not have known,_ she thought, not for the first time or for the last. She shook her head impatiently. _Denial is a powerful force…_

She began experimenting with her newly developing sense of echolocation; the resonance began to suggest the shape of the passageway, the height of the rooms, even the greater density of the supports within the bulkheads. The sensory overload made her dizzy, and a little punch-drunk.

"Yooooouuuuu – Hooooooo! Here, kitty, kitty, kitty! Where are all my little _POOKY_-boys?" She slammed her manacles down on the steel plates of the floor, feeling the reverberations spread and bounce back.

It was nearly time for shift change, at least according to her sense of time. She smiled to herself – _Fire-kitty is a cutey-patooty,_ she thought. _Pao… _He had apologized to her, after crying in her arms last night, as if he should be sorry for feeling like a decent human being. She didn't want to get him into trouble. She'd better really act up, today.

**Author's Note** - 12768 hits as of this writing, 102006 at 8:40 pm CST. Wow - Thanks! A few housekeeping items - One, I am going on record that I think Jin is a spy for the Dai Li. Two, wasn't there supposed to be a new episode on this evening? I am _severely_ disappointed! Three, I had a request for shorter poetry/lyric intros - sorry, that won't happen. I pick 'em for their content, not their length. If you find yourself confused, then go back and read them again. Or, do what my husband does and just skip right by any poetry! They are not necessary to understand the story - just frosting for them's as digs frosting.


	22. Mine

Ch 22

How the world can change  
It can change like that-  
Due to one little word:  
"Marriage".  
See a palace rise  
From a two room flat  
Due to one little word:  
"Marriage".  
And the old despair  
That was often there  
Suddenly ceases to be  
For you wake one day,  
Look around and say:  
Somebody wonderful married me!

- John Kander & Fred Ebb, _Cabaret_

_**WARNING - MATURE CONTENT - WARNING - MATURE CONTENT - WARNING**_

"…no, no, wait a minute – it's not that I have an objection to marrying you – I just didn't know, and you kind of took me by surprise…"

"…because if you don't want to, I mean if I - if you – I mean, I'm sorry, it just felt like right thing to…"

"It was! It was! It was exactly the right thing to do, I just didn't know you were doing it and…"

"Just forget it – forget it – this is just one more thing I'm going to screw up…"

"ZUKO!!! SHUT – UP!!!" Katara shrieked, taking his face in her hands. "What do I have to do to get through to you?"

Zuko stopped, and looked at Katara. Her eyes were so big, and so blue. He wished it were lighter so he could see them better, read her face – _oh yeah,_ he thought, _I'm a firebender…_

He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep, cleansing breathe, then brought his hands together between them, bending a single candle's worth of flame into his cupped fingers like a captive moth. Her eyes were luminous, shining – and really, really pissed.

"Zuko," she said. "Let's get one thing straight, right up front. I swore an oath to you just now, and I meant it. _I don't lie._ I love you. I didn't really know it until now, until I thought I might be loosing you, but I do. Okay?"

Zuko nodded. Katara went on. "Okay. Next – do you love me?"

Zuko nodded again.

"Maybe something more than a nod would be good here?"

"Yes, okay? I love you. I really do. And I don't lie, either. If I did, I could think of a whole lot better…"

"Hold it. One thing at a time. We love each other. We've established that. Now," she paused, "now, do you have any other… any other commitments that would make being married to me – are you already – oh, damn it – "

"Am I already betrothed?" she nodded, dropping her eyes. "No. Well, not that I know about – I suppose my father could have… I don't suppose that he would have made any arrangements after…" he turned away, "in the last three years…"

"That's probably a safe assumption. And I'm not, either."

"Not what?"

Katara rolled her eyes. "_Betrothed_." She touched her necklace. "This is a Northern Water-Tribe betrothal necklace, but Master Pakku made it for my Gran-Gran years ago and she gave it to my Mother who gave it to me…"

"Who's Master Pakku?"

"He's my waterbending master, the one that led the resistance when Zhao tried to…"

"Your Grandfather is…"

"_No_ – he's not my grandfather – he was engaged to my grandmother, but she didn't want to marry him, so she ran away to the Southern Water Tribe."

Zuko touched the pendant, and Katara's fingertips. "When I saw this, lying on the deck of the prison ship, and I knew it was yours… just the fact that I _knew_ it was yours, I think that's when I first realized I wanted you. When they told me… on the ship, the troops there told us what you had done," he laughed softly, "they even quoted your speeches – I couldn't help it," he shrugged, "I admired you. You had a lot of guts."

"And you _wanted_ me because I had a lot of guts?"

Zuko nodded. "Yeah. Go figure."

"Not, 'Gee, Katara, you were so pretty', or 'Gee, Katara, you were so sweet', but 'Gee, Katara, I just had to have you because you had a lot of _guts_?"

"Is there something wrong with that?"

Katara thought for a moment. "No. No, not really – actually, I kind of like it. It makes me feel like you want me for who I really am."

"I do – for all of who you are – which includes pretty, too, you know. That's when I started dreaming about you, " he added, leaning in closer to kiss her neck, just below the pendant.

"What… what kind of dreams?" Katara arched her neck, inching a little closer herself.

"You want me to tell you about them?" he whispered in her ear, his voice like steam.

Katara nodded, tingling – she remembered that voice, soft and hot and dangerous. It made her feel vulnerable, desirable - and a little bit afraid. _I've had my own dreams, Prince Zuko,_ she thought.

"Sometimes we'd start out fighting, battling somewhere, bending fire and water at each other," he said, his lips grazing her throat. "Or sometimes I would come upon you in the woods, all alone and unprotected. I would overpower you, chase you down, make you my prisoner, like this…" He dropped the flame and grasped her forearms, immobilizing her, locking his eyes to hers. Katara shivered, unable to look away.

"And then I would take you away somewhere, my cabin on the ship, the woods, anywhere, and then, when we were alone, I would rip that little blue dress you wore to shreds…" he backed her against the bulkhead, holding her there with his body, and yanked the shift off over her head.

"Zuko!" she gasped, breathless. His aggression was definitely turning her on.

"Then your hair would come undone, and I would wrap it around my hand, like this." He tangled his left hand in her hair at the nape of her neck, tipping her head back. "So you couldn't get away from me." He arched her over his arm, feasting on her skin.

"Ohhhh, Zuko," she moaned, as his searing mouth found her cool breast.

"Sometimes I dreamed of you in my bed, all warm and soft, dreamed about hearing you say my name, just like that, " he murmured, between tastes of her sweet skin. "But then, when I was angrier, I dreamed of you tied to a tree, like you were when the pirates were there – do you remember that?" He suckled each breast in turn, rubbing his cheek against the soft, sweet flesh.

"_Yes, ohhhh_, yes, I remember – you were so close to me, and I was afraid of you, and mad at you, and – _ohhhh, Zuko!_ - I wanted you to _touch me_ so I could fight you _– ohhhh, do that again!_"

"This?" He nipped her hardening flesh. "Or this?" He grazed his nails across her belly, and she trembled and twisted in his grasp, but he held her tightly. "Or _this_!" His right hand slid down her body, boldly assaulting, capturing her gateway. "I wanted to lift your skirts and slide my hand between your legs right then and there, did you know that?"

Katara shrieked, and shuddered, her knees suddenly too weak to hold her. His fingers were searing her, stretching her; she was throbbing, melting in his hands. She beat on his shoulders, his chest, holding him, fighting him, raking her nails across his skin.

"You want to fight me? Go ahead and fight me, I can take it," he scorched. "I am never, never letting you go…" He kissed her, deep and hard, his hands fiercely demanding. "I am going to touch you like this for the rest of your life, do you understand me, little Waterbender?"

"Yes! Ohhhh, Zuko, _please…!_"

"Tell me what you want! _TELL ME," _he growled, his hand stroking harder, deeper, no longer the gentle supplicant now, but the merciless conqueror. "Tell me what I always dreamed next, Katara!"

"I… ohhhh, I want… _please, please, please_, I want you in me, in… me… right _there_!"

Zuko lifted her effortlessly, and with a quick adjustment of his wrap, entered her as hard and as deeply as he could. "Wrap you legs around me," he hissed.

She did, locking him deep within her. For a moment they were nearly motionless, frozen in passion, and then Zuko couldn't stand it any longer. With a shudder he began to move within her in firm, deliberate strokes.

"This… this is what always came next, in every dream… but I didn't know – _ohhhh!_ - I didn't know how _different_… how _good_ it would be…"

"…much… better… _ohhhh, sweet, leaping, lemurs!_ " she thrashed in his arms, fighting to match his quickening rhythm, stroke for stroke. "Ohhhh, yes, yes, mine… you... you… are… mine!" she cried out, possessing him even as he possessed her.

",,,mine… mine_… Katara…this, this is all I want… all my life… I love… I love you, nothing but you_…" Zuko felt his own tears begin to flow, his emotions raw as they reached their release. _All our lives, Katara!_

"…_my love, my Zuko…_" They slid to the floor, still locked together. "_My husband_…"

It was a long, softly moaning time and many breathless kisses later that Katara pulled her shift back into place and began to try to finger-comb the tangles from her hair.

"Okay. Well, I think we've sufficiently established the fact that we love each other," _kisses, kisses, hands so warm and sweet_, "and that neither of us has any existing impediments – well, okay, you should probably know that Aang has a crush on me, but…"

"The _Avatar_? He has a crush on _you_?" Zuko lifted himself up on one elbow.

"Yeah, he does - what's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, it's just – you mean you'd rather have _me_ than _the AVATAR_?"

"Zuko, HELLO! Aang is a _kid_! A sweet, goofy, twelve year old kid! Sure, he's the Avatar and all, and I love him – "

"Oh, so, you admit you love him!"

"Yeah! I love him – I also love Sokka, so get over it!"

"I just want to know where I stand, that's all."

"Uh, I believe where you are standing, or lying, is in the "Observation Room" of some crappy little Fire Nation boat – "

"SHIP!!!!"

"Just KIDDING! Wow, it is really easy to get you going, isn't it?"

Zuko steamed, but didn't answer.

"Okay," said Katara, "so where were we?"

"In the Observation Room," Zuko smirked.

"Oooh, funny, Big Guy."

"Just _kidding_…"

"Oh, my – and anyone can see us – "

"Do you hear anyone out there?"

Katara paused a moment, then shook her head.

"Don't we always hear the guards when they come? Besides," he said pulling her into his arms, "if we stay on this side, below the seam, I think we can manage a little privacy, don't you?"

"Okay, you're probably right. One," she said ticking off counts on her fingers. "We love each other, as unbelievable as that still seems to me. Two, we have no other previous commitments. Three – what was three?"

"You're driving this wagon – I'm just along for the ride."

"Alright, three – here's three," she hesitated. "What exactly does being married mean for each of us – in the long run…"

"Do you mean, what are our fathers going to say?'

"Well, that's part of it, I guess – more like are you going to regret this someday when you become Fire Lord? Shouldn't…"

Zuko stopped her with a finger on her lips. In the glow of the door lamp, his eyes were golden. He smiled a small, sad smile, and then kissed her very, very softly.

"Katara, we're on our way to the Fire Nation now in the belly of the largest ship in my father's fleet. If we don't manage to find a way to get out of here before we reach the capitol, we are going to be either killed or imprisoned for the rest of our lives – probably killed. No, wait," he said, "I'm not quitting – I'm just being realistic. I fully intend to cause as much damage as I can before I go down. I know you'll do the same."

Katara was quiet for a moment, looking at him. "Well. I'll have your back."

"I know."

Author's Note - 14694 hits as of 102306, 5:06 pm CST - thank you all so much!. Okay, Zutara fans, tangy enough for you?


	23. Loose Ends

Ch 23

There is always one who kisses, and one who turns the cheek.

- Eleanor of Aquitaine

The problem that occurred to the girls was that Azula and Company had seen – and fought – the Kyoshi Warriors before, even if their encounter had been relatively brief. Dressing as the Daughters of Kyoshi would be too risky – however, it amused Hou Tu to re-name them the Daughters of Rokku, reasoning that, after all, Kyoshi and Rokku were both incarnations of the Avatar…

Somehow (and no one questioned exactly Hou Tu came up with these things) the ladies were supplied with simply cut robes of flowing black; she set Smellerbee and Longshot to rubbing down the hair ornaments, armor, gloves and fans with a rag and a soft, charcoal-gray powder to give them a dull silvery sheen. Under the curious eyes of the former Fire Nation officers, the young women experimented with upswept hair and new make-up designs in red, black and silver that utterly changed their appearance.

The officers, whose wariness had progressed to an amused superiority during the fashion show, had finally been leveled to a state of slack-jawed admiration once the Warriors began to spar. In the glow of the flickering torches, they looked like something from the Spirit World, like ghosts, dancing in the firelight that reflected in the shimmering lake.

Catching Suki's eye, Hou Tu summoned her with an open hand. She moved silently across the cavern floor towards the shadowy passages beyond. Suki followed – no one seemed to notice their absence.

In the deep shadows of the far walls of the cavern, seven passageways were cut into the granite. Hou Tu paused, lantern in hand, as Suki came to stand beside her.

"Daughter, a friend awaits us. It is time that you meet her, and gain her blessing. Which way will you enter?"

Suki, confused, surveyed her choices. The rough-cut stone archways looked nearly identical to her – _was this some kind of test?_ She moved to her left, passing in front of each of the entryways in turn.

There _were_ differences – in ways Suki would not have been able to put into words, she felt menace, indifference, curiosity, fear, longing – _here it is_. Here, at the fifth way, she felt need, longing, sorrow – someone was calling her. A narrow stream trickled over the rocks in this entrance, and Suki knelt to bathe her hands and face in the pure, icy water. Suki rose, and together they stepped forward.

Almost at once, the passageway began to change. The air grew warmer, and the walls seemed to fade… Suki glanced behind her, and gasped – she saw a young woman in a black silk robe, motionless, still kneeling beside the trickling stream.

She turned in shock to her companion, but Suki barely recognized the creature next to her – Hou Tu seemed to have grown taller, stronger, younger and older. Instead of the non-descript gray tunic and trousers, Hou Tu was garbed in elaborate robes in many shades of green - new leaves, moss, ocean, jade and emerald. Her hair was down, and shone in all the shades of the metals of the earth – copper and bronze, silver, iron and gold. A spray of fern-like cedar fronds was twisted into a wreath around a length of sky-blue silk and sat, crown-like, on her head. The scent of cedar and dark, smoky sandalwood was all around her.

Suki felt weak in the knees. All about her was mist, the light diffuse and glowing, the walls of the passageway now the roots of some primordial tree, arching high above her head. They stood upon stepping-stones in a glowing stream that rushed past them towards the cavern.

Hou Tu once more held out her hand. Suki took it, still too stunned to speak. The stream grew wider and wilder, flowing downhill toward them among rocks that were rougher and further apart, but with Hou Tu as her guide Suki barely noticed where she stepped.

"Hou Tu, what is this place?" she said hoarsely, finding her voice at last.

"You are in the Spirit World. Don't be afraid, Suki - no harm will come to you while you are with me," she added, smiling.

Ahead of them, standing on a rocky promontory in the mist, stood the figure of a young woman, tall and slender, regal and sad. Her hair was the silver white of moonlit snow, and her robes flowed with the indigo shadows of twilight.

"Little Sister," called Hou Tu, "she has come."

The young woman turned toward them, and gave Hou Tu a poignant smile. "She is just as you said she would be," she said. "Strong, and beautiful. I'm glad."

-+-+-+-+

Aang's head was spinning a little less precipitously when he lifted it. One of his Fire Nation guards had been bringing him water all afternoon, just a few sips at a time, but he was still thirsty. Gradually, the fog was lifting. He was almost sorry – he'd been having the most amazing dreams.

He wished he could remember. So many different faces, exotic places, familiar but unplacable – as if he'd been visited in turn by a dozen different past incarnations of himself, each with something incredibly important to tell him.

Maybe if he went back to sleep, just for a little while longer…

-+-+-+

Longshot and Smellerbee sat quietly on the steps of the pavilion, watching the Kyoshi Warriors and the Fire Nation soldiers as they drilled and strategized, gradually easing the formality of their initial interactions.

The weeks since the loss of their leader had been hard for the last remaining Freedom Fighters. "I know Jet wouldn't have liked this, Longshot," said Smellerbee sadly, "but you're right, there comes a time when you have to throw away your prejudices and just - seize the day."

Longshot nodded, and put his arm around Smellerbee's shoulder. "Yeah," said Smellerbee. She leaned her head on his shoulder. "I miss him, too."

-+-+-+

Governor Shen dressed carefully – meticulously constructing the impression of studied nonchalance, a casual elegance that took hours to perfect. His private party barge was at the dock, draped in red and gold silk, torches lit. Musicians, magicians, jugglers, dancers, dozens of handsome and scantily clad young men to serve the finest food and wine – all designed to appeal to the sophisticated tastes of Fire Lord's daughter.

It was nearly six, and the tide would be turning in another hour – at the speed the _Fire Maiden_ could no doubt make, there should be no trouble catching the tide into the harbor. Still, Shen intended to meet the enormous vessel and let his people guide it through the shoals. That would also give him the opportunity to off-load the Princess and her ladies before the ship docked, avoiding the crowds and any potential for trouble from the resistance.

With any luck, by the time of the scheduled "pirate" attack, the party barge would be watching the fireworks from the far side of the bay, and perhaps by then he would have managed to create a closer, _much, much closer_, relationship with Her Highness….

One more turn before the mirror, one more toss of his long, rippling black ponytail, a quick breath-check, and he was off. The _Fire Maiden_ had been sighted, glowing on the horizon in the setting sun – his barge would be right on time.

-+-+-+

Ty Lee chattered nearly non-stop as she dressed for the evening, flitting about the tiny room, trying on different outfits and tossing them aside, twirling in oblivious excitement before a simmering Sokka. With every pass or twirl she would rub up against him, her nimble fingers patting, pinching, teasing, tickling, but to no avail – no reaction.

Pouting, she tossed yet another outfit on the bed and wriggled back into the very first one she'd tried on. It was a maroon brocade, trimmed in gray and black silk, smoothly tailored and sophisticated.

"Well, what do you think?" she asked again.

Sokka shrugged and looked away, leaning against the bedpost.

"Sokka, you haven't heard a word I've said all afternoon! What is _wrong_ with you?" she asked, exasperated.

"Oh, I'm sorry, were you speaking to me? I didn't know I was expected to listen to you too. I thought I pretty much just had one purpose here, so you'll need to be a little more specific if you expect me to provide you with any other forms of entertainment," he spat.

"You hate me, don't you," she said, pouting.

"What do you care how I feel? Why should that matter to you? I'm just your damn _dog_, aren't I?" said Sokka, getting to his feet. "Right? Well, here I am, _Master_, ready to do my duty," he said, pulling her roughly against his body and hiking up her skirt.

"I never called you that," she said, trying to push the skirt back down.

Sokka caught her hand and rubbed it forcefully against his groin. "See? Your dog's all ready to play – isn't that what you were trying to do? Isn't this what you want from me, _Master_?" he snarled.

He pushed her back onto the jumble of rejected gowns on the bed. She looked like a discarded flower there, among the colorful silks.

His face was burning. He could see a spark of fear in her eyes, and it made him burn hotter. He tore his pants down and grabbed her knees, pulling them apart, yanking her hips to the edge of the bed and bunching her skirt up around her waist.

"Wait a minute – hey!" she squealed.

He plunged into her with brutal force, holding her wrists above her head, the chain about his neck dragging across her body. He claimed her mouth with equal cruelty, his tongue pushing past hers, in and out with the rhythm of his thrusts.

It was over quickly. Sokka rolled from her without a backward glance and hitched up his trousers, taking up his previous position at the foot of the bed. He was shaking.

Ty Lee scrambled off the other side of the bed, red-faced and tossled, and hastily readjusted her clothing.

"That is _not_ what I want from you!" she said, rounding on him.

He shrugged and looked away, still breathing hard.

"Dammit, look at me when I talk to you!" she grabbed the collar about his neck and pulled his head around.

"Oh, were you talking to me again? Sorry, _Master_," he said sarcastically, "I didn't think you'd need me again so soon! Was I not good enough that time? Just let me know what I can do to improve my service, _Master - _"

"Stop calling me that!"

"Didn't you like that, _Master_?" he barked at her. "Don't you like it when the puppy plays a little rough?" Sokka stood, glowering down at her. "You know, _Master_, if you keep a dog chained up, don't be surprised if he starts turning into a wolf!"

"Sokka," she said uneasily, looking toward the door.

"Oh, I forgot, I need to keep my voice down, or else Azula will be in here sniffing around, won't she?" he whispered viciously. "I guess I'm not the only dog around her, am I, _Master_?"

Ty Lee smacked him hard across the face. Sokka did not flinch, did not turn his eyes from hers. It was Ty Lee who looked away first. "I'm sorry," she whispered miserably.

"Me, too," Sokka answered gently. "Nobody likes to be owned, Ty Lee." He sank back to his position at the foot of the bed, and would not look at her again.

Sokka heard the door close to the head. He could hear her crying. _I'm a real shit,_ he thought. _I didn't need to do that to her._ He put his head down on his arms.

A few minutes later there was a perfunctory knock and the door of the stateroom flew open. Mai leaned in. "Ty Lee, let's go!" she called, not sparing Sokka a glance. "Shen sent a barge - we're gong to be late!"

"In a minute – I'll be right there," answered Ty Lee.

Mai was dressed, as usual, all in black. Her face was powdered to an even paler shade than normal, and her one concession to the celebratory nature of the evening was deep red lip rouge that made her teeth look slightly yellow in contrast. "Hurry up, or Azula and I are going down without you," she called over her shoulder.

Ty Lee came out of the bathroom, hair and make-up repaired. She paused for a moment by the door and turned, her hand on the nightstand.

"Sokka," she called softly.

Their eyes met. She smiled a small, sad smile. "I didn't mean to..." she said quietly. She left without waiting for a reply. On the table where her hand had rested was a key.

"Neither did I," whispered Sokka.

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**Author's note**: 18081 hits as of 110606, 7:40 pm CST

Thanks for your patience, friends - I've been stuck pursuing dead-ends on a number of scenes that may make fine drabbles later, but had no real reason to be in this story! I'll try to update a little quicker from now on. - Tante Liz


	24. Tonight

Ch 24

_Anticipate the difficult by managing the easy_.

- Lao-Tsu 604-531 BCE

The vibrations had changed. The engines came to a full stop, then after a short time, resumed at lowest steam. _Coming through the shoals,_ thought Iroh. _Tonight, it must be tonight – we won't get a better chance than this._

Throughout the four days since Azula had ambushed them, Iroh kept up a diligent routine of flexing and stretching (to the extent that the chains allowed), shifting positions as often as he could to prevent contracture of his muscles and breakdown of skin at the pressure points. He had seen it happen often enough in prisoners, especially firebenders, who needed to be carefully restrained.

_Any good soldier learns a little field medicine as he goes along_ – he thought – _just never thought I'd be using it on myself_.

Footsteps in the passageway, and a key in the lock – soldiers with fire shields – and the slender young guard who had spoken to him yesterday afternoon. His head was lifted gently, and he drank as much water as he could get in the little time he knew they would give him.

Pao put down the water bottle and checked the manacles at the General's wrists and ankles. With his body hiding his movements from the other soldiers, Pao slipped a folded scrap of paper between the iron shackle and Iroh's skin. Iroh carefully did not look at him, did not want to betray the young man by meeting his eyes.

Just as quickly, they were gone. After a moment, Iroh brought his wrist to his teeth and pulled out the scrap. A single word was written across it – "_Tonight". _

Iroh snapped the paper into flame, and carefully crumpled the ashes. Adrenaline surged through him, making his skin tingle and his muscles burn. He willed himself to relax, resuming his motionless exercise routine; _breathe in, breathe out_ – and unaccountably, he caught the scent of cedar and sandalwood, like incense burning in a temple.

Iroh smiled.

-+-+-+

Governor Shen welcomed Her Royal Highness Azula, Princess of the Fire Nation and heir apparent to the throne, with a singular lack of the pomp and formality that had so far typified her reception at other ports. Calculatedly so – Shen wished to portray an entirely different image to the target of his intended seduction.

No armored soldiers here – the gang plank was lined with well-muscled young men, bare-chested and easy on the eye, skin oiled and tanned and glistening with a dusting of powdered mica to bring out the definition of muscle and limb. The barge gleamed golden in the setting sun, draped with silk banners of red and gold that shimmered and danced in the breeze like flames. Music oozed from flute and horn and drum; not the delicate and elegant music of the court – this was sensual, rhythmic, full; the music of the equatorial islands, far from the palace of the Fire Lord but just as much a part of the heritage of the Fire Nation. The smell of grilling meat rose tantalizingly from braziers at the far end of the barge amid polished bowls of ripe fruit and steaming platters of seafood and rice.

The effect was a feast for the senses, rich and decadent, and as the master of this floating garden of earthly delights sauntered forth to greet his guests, Azula found herself anticipating an evening filled with amusements. The Governor knelt and bowed low before Her Highness with an expression of bold and earthy appraisal.

_Arrogant little fuck_, thought Azula. _How nice for a change…_

She delicately licked her lips in anticipation, meeting his gaze with one of equally sensual assessment. She took his proffered arm, relieved him of his wineglass, and drained it.

"To the Fire Lord," she toasted.

"To the Fire Lord's daughter," he responded.

-+-+-+

Aboard the _Fire Maiden_, Shen's navigators expertly guided the great ship past the rocks lurking below the waves. As the Governor's barge drifted off to calmer waters, the great pier of Guo Bin came into view – the longest and broadest the crew had ever seen, with ships of every size at berth, shops, street vendors and carnival rides in two long rows still leaving a broad avenue between them. Two other piers on either side were shorter and narrower, but just as full of spectators and entertainment.

The crew greeted the announcement of shore leave for all with cheers of anticipation, especially from those who had been unlucky enough to have drawn duty on board that evening as their lot.

The Commandeer signaled the Lieutenant for a quick conversation – there were soon to be three fewer happy men aboard the _Fire Maiden_.

"Those three jackasses who killed that Dirt Girl last night, Shu, Yang, and Gou – no shore leave for them. We had to pay the harbormaster at Ten Yu the price of the girl, and I intend to take it out of their hides," he added.

"Aye, aye sir. There's a whole pile of kabu root in the galley that needs peeling, and they can get started on it tonight."

"And tell them that if I hear from the Governor's men that their asses were _anywhere _else but in the galley tonight, they'll be rowing behind us in a dinghy the rest of the way home!"

"Aye, sir!"

"And, Lieutenant," said the Commander.

"Sir?"

"While we're in town, see about getting those bastards re-assigned. We've had nothing but trouble from every last one of Zhao's people since we hauled their worthless carcasses out of the water at the North Pole. Should have let them drown…"

"I'll see the harbormaster about it this evening, sir."

-+-+-+

Katara dozed fitfully, her head on Zuko's knee. Now and then she would startle, as if in her dreams she caught herself falling…

Zuko could only stare straight ahead, his hand resting protectively on Katara's. In his mind's eye he pictured the great harbor of the Fire Nation capitol, the iron piers, the black volcanic rock. He pictured his father, standing on the pier, waiting for his son to return home. Waiting to finish the job he started three long years ago. Waiting to kill his son.

_You should have done it when you had the chance, Father,_ he thought. _I will not beg for your mercy this time._

-+-+-+

Sokka sat unmoving until the last footsteps faded away. He stood slowly and picked up the key. _Wait_, he told himself. _Wait, someone might come back._

The key warm in his hand, he stepped out onto the balcony. Below, he could see the Governor's grand barge as it eased itself alongside the great ship.

Faint music reached his ears. It reminded him of their first evening on Kyoshi Island, after he had disgraced himself in front of Suki. The villagers had prepared a feast in their honor. There had been music, and a storyteller, and as they sat together around the fire the moon had risen, gilding the trees on the hillside.

He could see them now together, Suki laughing in the moonlight, Yue on the bridge, separate, different, but somehow similar. He shook his head to clear it.

He walked back inside the cabin, deciding that, if he was stuck here a little while longer, he might as well take advantage of the plumbing. He was surprised at the elegance of the little room – no simple shower stall here, but a real porcelain tub. Carved soapstone vials of assorted shades of pink sat in niches above the tub, and Sokka took his time sampling the aromas of the scented oils and soaps.

He cranked the red pump handle and hot water began to flow. Cold water came from the blue handled pump. Sokka added a generous dollop of a fruity scented pink stuff from one of the bottles and foamy pink bubbles began to build in the water. He'd had enough of pink – a splash of a dark blue woodsy smelling bottle fixed that – the bubbles turned a satisfying shade of dusky lavender.

He unlocked the collar and rubbed his neck, then with a sigh, Sokka slipped into the tub, relaxing in the warm, bubbly froth.

_So this is why she always smelled like papaya,_ he thought.

-+-+-+

Lieutenant Jee and his men left earlier in the afternoon, disguises prepared, to return to the _Phoenix_. As the shadows lengthened, Hou Tu collected the Daughters of Rokku for their journey into town.

Hou Tu had also assumed a disguise – neither the cheerful peasant woman who had welcomed them last night, nor the Goddess of the Earth that Suki had followed only a short time ago, Hou Tu now dressed in elegant black and red robes, her features obscured by the elaborate painting of a courtesan, her hair hidden in a red silk turban. She looked like a worldly and aging madam, dripping with the jeweled offerings of generations of satisfied customers.

Shields, fans, weaponry and warriors were bundled into a carved and painted wagon draped in Fire Nation banners and drawn by four ostrich horses. Long Shot, uncomfortable in black and red livery, took the reins. There was no sign of Appa, or Smellerbee.

No one spoke as the wagon lurched and swayed down the road to the valley and the harbor below.

At the gates of the Governor's mansion, they were greeted by a harried minister.

"You're late, Madam Xia," he spluttered, "the Governor is already on board the barge!"

"A thousand apologies, sir," responded Hou Tu in a breathless lisp. "The crowds on the road, just shocking…

"No time for that now, you're to go directly to the Grand Pier – just drive straight through, you'll see an elevated platform right in front of the pier head. Begin your performance as the crew disembarks, and make it last long enough to get everyone off before you board. Your – uh – _other_ crew – they are already in place?"

"Everyone is prepared, sir," bowed Hou Tu, climbing back aboard the wagon box. "I promise you, this will be a night the Governor will never forget!"

"I certainly hope so, Madam!" he huffed.

-+-+-+

Author's Note: 21,576 hits to this story as of loading, 1621 CST 111706. Blythe, sorry for another short quote - truly I'm not caving into the demands of the unwashed masses, I just found what I needed in a little bitty package again! **:p**

New episode tonight - Wahoo!!!


	25. The Slumber of Crimson Thoughts

**Long Explanatory Author's Note:** I owe you all an apology for such a long hiatus. Thank you for your patience and your many inquiries. Our hard drive crashed in mid-November, and I lost all of my original Ch. 25. Oddly enough, re-creating it took it in a different direction. As November ended, a brutal ice storm hit the greater St. Louis area, and we lost power from late on a Thursday night until the following Monday afternoon. We spent a few nights in an Embassy Suites (and got to watch, but not record, the end of the season there), then went to our friend Maureen's apartment in the Central West End – I, my husband, our 6 and 2 year old kids, the Xbox and all our luggage. My 6 year old, Adam, got a kick out of telling everyone that we were nomads and refugees, just like the Avatar! On my 45th birthday the following week, I got insurance approval for bariatric surgery, and began a clear liquid diet in preparation. Had my procedure on the 20th, had complications, wound up in the ICU, and am now home recuperating. So, if you're wondering what could possibly have been more important than updating my story…

At any rate, before we jump back in, I offer up a brief synopsis for those who don't remember where we are right now (hear Mako's voice saying "Previously, on Avatar…"):

In Ch 1, Azula began her trip home to the Fire Nation with prisoners in tow. Aboard the mighty cruiser _Fire Maiden_, she has deposited Aang, Sokka, Toph, and Iroh in cells in the brig, while she has decided for her own amusement to put Katara and Zuko together in a former interrogation room where they can be observed.

In Ch 2, Toph makes a connection with a young Fire Nation guard named Pao (original character) in an effort to amuse herself and pass the time.

In Ch 3, Sokka gets a shower – and there is much rejoicing…

Ch 4 also finds Zuko and Katara being led off to the showers, but due to their status as benders they are treated as a much greater threat. This leaves Zuko actually feeling guilty and embarrassed for Katara, and a little chink in the armor appears.

Ch 5 finds Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors in pursuit of the _Fire Maiden_. While the end of the season leaves the status of Suki and the gang in doubt, this chapter was written long before and will have to stand as is. Suki outlines a preliminary plan to somehow hi-jack the _Fire Maiden_.

In Ch 6, probably one of my favorite to write so far, we find that Aang has come down with a very bad cold. He must therefore suffer the attentions of Azula's ancient retainers Lady Li and Lady Lo, whom we met briefly on the show as Azula's advisors. Any of you all actually old enough to have had your grandmother rub your chest with goose grease and eucalyptus oil and slap a hot towel across your skin after dosing you with some hot brandy-based potion of unknown origin? Eeech!

Ch 7 contains mature content, a scene originally written for _I Greet The God Within You_ and bumped, which primarily serves to let you know what Iroh's up to during this time but also to introduce the original character of Hou Tu from my previous story. For those of you who haven't read it (or for those young male readers/flamers like InsaneRaden who just couldn't stomach a lemon for the over 40 crowd!), Hou Tu is from the Spirit World, and has been in the background of Iroh's life for some time. She is taken from the ancient Chinese pantheon, and her name literally translates as Queen Earth.

In Ch 8, Sokka finds himself delivered up to the mercy of the rather bored Ty Lee and Mai while Azula is attending a formal state dinner at their current port of call. With the help of a little plum wine and a deck of cards, Sokka finds himself in a compromising position.

Meanwhile, back below deck in Ch 9, Toph hears Aang howling under the tender ministrations of the Ladies Li and Lo and fears for his safety. Pao comes to quiet her down, and their connection deepens. Toph learns from Pao that it is the practice of the Fire Nation navy to bring captive Earth Kingdom women aboard ship at various ports of call to "entertain" the troops.

Ch 10 finds us back with Katara and Zuko. There interchanges are becoming a little more personal as they each find that the other is human, after all.

In Ch 11 we start moving back and forth a little faster. First, Sokka fights feelings of shame over his seduction by Ty Lee. Next, we see Aang out of danger – at least of pneumonia. Next scene brings a traumatized Pao seeking comfort from his new friend. Last, we find that Suki and the gang were overheard and followed by two old friends – did you guess who they were the first time you read it?

Ch 12 brings a visitor to Iroh. Pao's conflicts with the actions of his peers versus the standards he'd been raised to (along with his family's personal reasons for loyalty to the Dragon of the West) spur him to seek out the old General as he nears a pivotal decision.

Ch 13 – ah, yes, good old Ch 13. This one gets a lot of repeat hits, especially from the Zutara fans. Katara and Zuko experience the passion of first love and Zuko is grateful for his Uncle's long lectures on how to handle a woman (see the last chapter of _I Greet The God Within You_, and yes, I plan to expand these firelight lessons into an independent story of Iroh's wicked youth!) Surprise ending to Ch 13 – they don't call it the Observation Room for nothing!

In Ch 14, Suki and the Kyoshians have cut through overland and made it to Guo Bin ahead of Azula. They are met by a resistance connection – Hou Tu, in her "portable cavern".

Ch 15 finds the _Fire Maiden_ making way from port to her next stop. Katara and Zuko continue to enjoy each other's company, and we find that Iroh has not been completely idle.

In Ch 16 we meet that Prince Charming of lounge lizards, Governor Shen, and learn a little about his ulterior motives concerning Azula. Ty Lee summons Sokka for a repeat performance and we discover Li and Lo's weakness for dancing boys.

Ch 17 identifies the two watchers as Long Shot and Smellerbee, with Appa in tow (written before Appa's recovery and the death of Jet) as they meet up with Hou Tu and a mysterious group of Fire Nation soldiers. Pao's crisis of conscience results in a change of allegiance.

In Ch 18, Sokka intends to resist Ty Lee but is overpowered. Ty Lee in her oblivion of self-centeredness does not recognize Sokka as more than an object and doesn't take his resistance seriously. His humiliation deepens after an encounter with Azula, who drops hints about what Zuko may be doing to his sister.

Ch 19 identifies the mysterious Fire Nation soldiers as the remnants of the crew that followed Zuko into exile. Lt. Jee tells their story, and a change is made in the plan of attack.

Ch 20 brings Pao to visit the banished Prince and offer him his allegiance. The ancient ceremony sealing his personal fealty moves Zuko to offer his own allegiance – and hand – to Katara. She accepts – um, sort of…

Ch 21 is a quiet musing with Toph Bay Fong, as she discovers a new ability – I have to laugh when I actually manage to anticipate where the real writers of Avatar are going, since I usually end up totally in the wrong direction!

Ch 22 (mature content) was written at the request of the Zutarans out there for more lemon. Zuko and Katara come to terms with their new commitment.

Ch 23 begins with brief visits to several characters (including a loose end to be cleared up later about Hou Tu and Suki's visit to Yue in the Spirit World) and ends with a very difficult part of the story. While it may have been as hard for many of you to read as it was for me to write, Sokka's anger and actions are psychologically consistent with the character's experience – and will remain with him for a long time to come. Ty Lee experiences a glimmer of self-realization, prompting her to an honorable act.

In Ch 24, Governor Shen whisks his honored guests away aboard his private party barge as the _Fire Maiden_ proceeds into port, and the Commander of the _Fire Maiden_ decides that some of his crew aren't getting shore leave after all (enter three more villains!). Plans are laid in layers that must inevitably tangle as they play out.

Okay, now that we're up to date, enjoy the Ch 25. I'm already working on the next one.

- Tante Liz

Ch 25

_Coiled Alizarine _- for Noam Chomsky

Curiously deep, the slumber of crimson thoughts:

While breathless, in stodgy viridian

Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

from _The Night Mirror_, by John Hollander. 1971

Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana. - Anonymous

Amid the applause of the crowd, Suki and her warriors performed one last set of spinning heel kicks ending in a flourish of fans, and turned, marching up the gangplank to the deck of the _Fire Maiden_. Yu Kai twirled at the top of the ramp and struck a sentry's pose. The remaining warriors marched smartly behind Suki, following her below deck.

"Well, that didn't go too badly," said Ting. "Let's fire up this tub and get out of here!"

"Just a little longer, ladies," said Suki.

"What do we have to wait for?" asked Wen Ji.

"This, for one thing," Hui La said, nodding toward the four approaching Fire Nations guards.

"_You_ are our relief crew?" Lieutenant Fu asked skeptically. The other guards exchanged glances.

Suki smiled and coyly tilted her head, sashaying a few dainty steps towards the doubting officer. "Lieutenant," she cooed, sliding a flirtatious hand down his arm. "Don't tell me you serve under _Her Highness_ and _doubt_ the ability of a woman to –" a quick twist of her grip on his wrist pulled him to his knees – "get the job done, hmmm?"

The other guards laughed as Suki pulled the man back to his feet, while the Kyoshians tittered like a chorus of birds behind their fans.

"No, I guess I should never underestimate the power of a woman," laughed Lt. Fu good-naturedly. "Come on, boys, let's get these ladies settled in for the night – this way, ma'am," he bowed, indicating the passageway.

Down another set of stairs and straight through to the center of the ship, the officer unlocked a heavy, iron-barred door.

"This is the main brig, we've got the General in that first cell over there, and the little Earth girl across from him. The Avatar's in the last cell there, the one with the reinforced door. Everybody's been fed and watered – remember the Avatar can bend water, too, so don't carry any back there without one of these," he said, indicating the riot shields leaning against the bulkhead.

He pointed out an open doorway just inside the cellblock. "Keys are on the hook over there, tea's in here, we always keep a pot going in the evening. It can get pretty boring around here at night. Got a deck of cards in the drawer there, there's stew here, " he said, indicating a warming hearth, "and there's a big bag of fireflakes in the cabinet and some peaches we picked up at the last port, if you get hungry. Now, make sure you do a window check every hour – "

"That's only three – we were told you had, what, six or seven prisoners, right?" asked Suki, innocently.

"Yeah, we had a Water Tribe kid in that fourth cell, but one of Her Highness's lady-friends took a shine to him, and he's chained up in the stateroom – come to think of it, I don't know whether anybody remembered to feed him… nope, there's his bowl, still sitting there," he added, "and then there's the Prince and the Water Tribe girl in the Observation Room, straight down that corridor and to the left at the T-intersection. I'll take you by there on our walk through, right after I run this up to the stateroom…"

"We can handle that," said Ya Li sweetly, taking his arm. "I know you guys don't want to miss the carnival!"

"I heard the Scarlet Mountain Fire Dancers are performing at the Tiger Pavilion at eight," said Ting. "You can still get good seats if you hurry," she added.

"Ooooh, Scarlet Mountain?" gasped Hui La. "They're incredible! I saw them last month at the Flaming Pearl – but I have to say," she added primly, "those costumes were a little too revealing for my tastes; why, those girls were practically _naked_!"

"Silly, they _were_ naked – that was just body paint!"

"At the Tiger Pavilion, you say?" asked one of the guards.

"Have any of you guys been to Guo Bin before?" asked Suki. "No? Well, this will be a night you will _never_ forget!"

-+-+-+

Pao barely breathed as he pressed back into the doorway. Lieutenant Fu and the other guards passed within hand's reach of him during their walk-through with the Guo Bin team. They looked like something right out of a play, in their flowing robes and face paint – beautiful and intimidating.

Pao gulped – there were seven of them, but he'd have the Prince and the General at least, not to mention the Water bender and Earth bender… the Avatar still looked pretty groggy, better not count on him.

As the echoes from the last footsteps died away, Pao quickly unlocked the door to the Observation Room.

"You Highness? Ma'am?" he said, averting his eyes, just in case…

"Pao?" said Zuko.

"Sir, it's now or never. The whole crew's on shore leave, and the Lieutenant's doing a walk-through with the Governor's relief team – we need to move quickly, sir," said Pao, unlocking wrist and ankle manacles first from Zuko then from Katara.

"So what's the plan," asked Katara, rubbing her sore wrists. Her arms and legs felt oddly light without the weight of the chains.

"We need to sit tight for maybe half an hour, give the Lieutenant time to finish report and head off for the carnival, otherwise we'll be up against twice as many, sir," said Pao.

"Good thinking – can you get us to the engine room?" asked Zuko.

"Yes, sir! Follow me, sir, ma'am," he added.

"The engine room?" asked Katara. "Don't tell me you actually know how to sail this thing, do you?"

"Not a clue," replied Zuko, "but I'd be willing to bet I can figure out a way to make it _not_ sail."

-+-+-+

Hou Tu handed off the wagon and animals to a non-descript young man with a hat pulled low over his eyes. The resistance was indeed active in Guo Bin, and in a matter of minutes the wagon would be disassembled and the ostrich horses separated and sold, leaving no trace of "Madam Xia" and her performers. Long Shot shed his livery and faded into the crowd.

With a fold of her black robe over her head and the crowd's attention distracted by the next troop of performers, she slipped unnoticed up the gangplank of the _Fire Maiden_. In the deep twilight, she could make out the lights of the _Lady of the Harbor_ as it drifted south to the beach pier. At the north arm of the bay, she knew, the _Phoenix_ lay ready in the shadows, waiting for her signal.

"Hou Tu, you're coming with us?" asked a startled Yu Kai.

"My contacts tell me that now might be a good time to disappear, my dear. Besides, I have a fancy to meet the Avatar myself, and perhaps visit with an old friend," she added with a mischievous gleam in her eye. "Is the crew clear?"

"Not entirely – the guard detail is still doing a walk-through with Suki and the girls – they just headed up the tower stairs," said Yu Kai, indicating the dark structure looming amidships, "so you might want to do a little disappearing right now, 'cause I expect they'll be back soon."

Yu Kai turned back towards where the odd little woman had just stood, but she was nowhere in sight.

_Whoa_, thought the young warrior, _she's good_.

-+-+-+

Shao, Yuh, and Gui were not well inclined to remain in the galley after the rest of the crew had gone.

As crude and vulgar as they were stupid and cruel, they did not find their current post much to their liking. Times were better for them under Zhao, especially before he was called up to the admiralty – back when he was still Commander Zhao, master of the largest southern port in the occupied Earth territories, Shao, Yuh and Gui had felt their talents to be much more appreciated. Indeed, they were celebrated for their ability to extort, blackmail, cheat and otherwise shake down the local population in the carrying out of whatever duties Zhao laid to them.

The very idea that their current Commander should have reacted as he did to their treatment of that skinny, cowering Dirt Girl made no sense to them.

"Damned if I can figure it out," grumbled Gui. "Perfectly okay for us to kill 'em by the hundreds when we find 'em in a village."

"It's the money," sneered Yuh. "Can you believe that cheap bastard, actually wanting twenty in silver for a dead whore?"

"Hell, we used to charge less than that for the live ones!" Shao hawked and spat into the pile of peeled roots.

"Hey, asshole! We gotta eat too, ya know!" said Yuh.

"I ain't stickin' around here for another meal, are you?" snickered Shao.

"You mean we gonna jump ship?" asked Gui stupidly.

"You think of any better spot in all the territories to set us up in business for ourselves? Hell, ain't nobody in Guo Bin who he says he is – it's the perfect spot to just _blend_ right in, if you know what I mean," slimed Shao.

"What kinda business?" asked Gui.

Yuh laughed crudely. "Long as it involves bustin' a few heads, I'm in!"

"Anything beats shoveling coal for the Bitch Royal, don't it?" said Shao. "An' ain't we got ourselves another Dirt Girl in the hold to get us some start-up money? She's a young one, too, an' you know some of those high-rankin' fuckers'll pay big money for the babies."

"Yeah, but ain't she a bender? How ya gonna keep her settled down an' workin' once we's on land, Shao?" asked Gui.

Shao pulled a small wooden box from his sleeve. "The Lieutenant's given us a little parting gift," he said. "Powdered magic, boys," he laughed, "a little extra firefly in her water an' she'll do anything we want!"

The other two looked at him in slack-jawed awe. Shao filled a drinking bottle from the fresh water barrel in the galley. He carefully added a pinch of the pale green powder to the water, corked the bottle and shook it up. He replaced the tiny box in its hiding place and handed the bottle to Yuh.

"You two go give the baby her bottle. I'm goin' do me some shoppin' up in the bitch's stateroom!" he tossed over his shoulder, wiping his hands on his grubby pants.

-+-+-+

The _Lady of the Harbor _tied up to the beach pier in the last glow of twilight. The beautiful, wealthy and well connected of Guo Bin lounged indolently around bonfires, lined up at the buffet tables or the bar, watching the fire dancers or limboed down at the water's edge. On Shen's orders, they were all to be far, far too cool to grovel and drool. A lazy tip of the glass, a graceful bow, that's it. Azula was impressed.

Neatly and efficiently, those who had been assigned to do so separated the Princess's party. Mai was easily led off to a group of the darkly dressed and ennui-obsessed gathered around a water pipe, Ty Lee was tempted by the acrobats facilitating the limbo stick, and the Ladies Li and Lo were given a place of honor in front of the fire dancers.

Shen tucked his royal guest's arm loosely into his so that her fingertips just barely grazed his skin. He had shed his gauzy open robe on board the barge, and now sported nothing but a red silk sarong tied low on his hips and a golden governor's chain and seal on his bare chest. Azula was even more impressed. It was a very nice chest, indeed, and the hint of bare thigh and calf that flipped through the folds of the sarong as they strolled together were equally… _nice_.

After completing a circuit of the beach sites and receiving the carefully nonchalant adulation of those in attendance, the pair found themselves at the far tip of the beach, not far from a little, secluded cove.

"Would Your Highness care for a quick dip before the fireworks?" asked Shen, raising Azula's fingertips to brush his lips.

"How kind of you, Governor," purred Azula, running one nail down Shen's chin and throat to tug gently at his chain. "But you see, alas, I have no bathing suit."

"Neither have I," answered Shen, as the fingertip drew lower and lower down his chest and belly, sending a little shiver of anticipation up his spine.

Drawing closer, the crisp brocade of her black and gold gown brushing against his skin, Azula slipped her hand in between the folds of the sarong and began a thorough assessment of the Governor's qualifications. The little shiver became a full-fledged quake.

"Hmmm, why, yes, I think that sounds… quite refreshing, Governor Shen," steamed Azula, as they strolled past the rocks to where a conveniently located double-chaise faced the sea.

-+-+-+

Getting rid of Lt. Fu and his crew took longer than Suki thought. Fu fussed like a mother hen, obviously uncomfortable at leaving his charges in unfamiliar hands.

"And if you want a quiet evening, you can always give them a little extra of this in their drinking water…" he said, fishing around in his sleeve. "That's funny, I could have sworn…"

"What's the matter, Lieutenant?" asked Wen Ji patiently.

"Well, I thought I had…you see, we've been putting a little firefly powder in the prisoners' water. Mostly the Avatar, actually, although since the Ladies have been treating him, not so much… Not enough to totally gork them out, you know, it just helps to keep them… um…"

"Firefly?" asked Suki. "Isn't that illegal?"

"Well, strictly speaking, yes, but it can sure come in handy, especially if the prisoners are benders. Well, I must have left the box in the guardroom. I'll just run down and – "

"Lieutenant!" called one of his men in exasperation.

"We'll take care of everything, sir," soothed Yu Kai, as she gently took the Lieutenant's arm and cozied him towards the gangplank. "You just run along and have a good time, boys, you deserve it!"

"Huh," muttered Suki, as they left. "I wonder how much they were using…"

-+-+-+

The crew of the _Phoenix_ watched across the darkening water as Yu Kai bowed the last of the _Fire Maiden's_ crew down the gangplank. The carnival was in full swing on all three piers.

"Slow and steady, boys," ordered Lt. Jee. "We don't want to attract any attention – yet."

The _Phoenix_ was a scarred and battle-worn but well-made steamer of the old _Volcano_ class. She slipped slowly across the harbor. The boiler was primed but the ran on low steam now, as quietly as they could.

At some point after the pirates that encountered Zuko's crew in pursuit of the Avatar lost their previous sailing junk over the waterfall, they had somehow managed to acquire a finer ship than they deserved – doubtless, part of Zhou's blood money. When Jee and his men managed to track them down, they found the hold full of the odds and ends and prizes of a pirate life. The present crew had scrounged their dress for the evening from the pirates' chests, and had spent an enjoyable hour or two swaggering about in their new gear.

The crew thought with regret of the bounty they would be leaving behind when they abandoned the _Phoenix_ for the _Fire Maiden_. Lt. Jee limited them to one rucksack each. As well, they had spent quite some time making the old steamer a fit habitation and hated to waste all their efforts, but it couldn't be helped – they would all be needed to man the _Fire Maiden_ and would have to leave the _Phoenix _behind.

They packed the remainder of the pirates' blasting jelly into the control tower with regret.

-+-+-+

Sokka was just considering whether it had been long enough since the ship had docked for him to consider making his escape. He stretched. The bubbles were dissipating and the water was beginning to cool… _yeah, time to get moving_.

The creak of the stateroom door froze Sokka in mid-motion. He heard the sound of someone shuffling around, doors opening and closing – and a male voice that grunted and swore as the contents of an over-stuffed locker emptied about him.


End file.
